Right, I conflated homeopathy with essential oil treatments. Maybe a bad example. I don't think so. 

What ever you think 
about the theory of the former, it is a totally separate practice from 
the plant products that have evolved to interact with predators but 
don't get enough science unless they've been synthesized and patented. 

As I already pointed out earlier this week, essential oils were heavily scrutinized by some of the best bee scientists in the business and found lacking. If you don't believe me I can provide the reference material. I have hundreds of papers on plant chemistry as I am writing a series of articles on odor communication. There are three main fields of study: odor communication in the colony, odor communication between plants and insects, and (this is new) odor communication between plants. 

I would hasten to point out that internal hive communication uses very subtle combinations of odors to regulate a number of things going on in the hives. When QMP was discovered all sorts of bright ideas were conceived, like using it to control swarming, or facilitate queen introduction. All I can say is that in my opinion dumping essential oils into hives willy nilly is ignorant at best, and is not supported by scientific work. Just the opposite, it can be disruptive.

Finally, a brief anecdote. I was preparing a few barrels of syrup to feed to colonies during a dearth. The boss had us put an ounce of anise oil in each drum to make the syrup "more attractive." Some construction workers were on site, and they asked us what on earth did we think we were doing? Didn't we *know* that licorice odor is one of the best ways to attract bears? 

Pete

[now I know how to attract bears to hives!]

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