>
> >He found that it was most effective when placed in a Petri dish. Try
> using old honey jar lids!
I've tested this way, but used new honey jar lids.
I observed low efficacy, even in hot weather, unless the bees physically
removed the crystals.
Results are different if the thymol is dissolved into a cellulose matrix
and placed in the middle of the cluster. I'm currently playing with this
as preliminary research.
It appears that the bee fanning action around the cellulose greatly
increases the rate of evaporation of the thymol. This can lead to removal
of brood and major colony disruption with 10 g of thymol. I do not observe
a large degree of disruption if only 5 g is applied this way, but at the
cost of decreased efficacy.
--
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com
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