DE>After the last 48 hrs it was refreshing to have a good Ha ha! Both Jean and
  >I were in stitches over this and other recent postings. Your problems with
  >rattle snakes makes our problems with skunks and ants seem very tame!!
 
Hi North Pole Friends,
 
We got pole cats, skunks, civet cats, spotted skunks, and cuteamondays,
and some fun experiences with all as pets and pests, but some of that
stuff is to rank even for beekeepers that I have not dug into it, but
I will someday. At the same time I am not the only one who has made
every mistake in the beeyard book and hope others will reciprocate with
some of their own experiences..
 
  >        Would you please take a few moments and tell me (us) what "liquid
  >smoke" is and how to use it?
 
You get this stuff, "BAR-B-Q" smoke flavoring in the 1/2 or 1 gallon
size containers at the big food barns, or wholesale food stores. I don't
use it myself so I can not say how much you delete it, but knowing how
beekeeper kill snakes you start out at 100% and if that does not kill
the bees you work down by adding water, until the cost of the final
product is equal to the cost of a one cent post card or you can start
out with a equal amount of water, shake it up and do not put it in the
spray bottle until you are ready to use so you can shake the carry
bottle again if it all separates before you get to use it.
 
I would like to add here my own humble opinion that what makes these
things work is the frame of mind of the beekeeper using them, the
beekeepers tolerance to pain, and the same type of ingredients that are
found in any product containing the so called essential oils which are
in common everyday use in all kinds of household products, and food,
maybe 2nd only to sugar and salt.
 
What I am saying is that if you are interested in say Wintergreen Oil,
(the cheep one) to control mites, (the big one's), or better yet thymol,
(not so cheep), but is already a smoke'ee smelling natural product well
known as a mite killer, you could use these same products deleted to
calm bees because they all seem to have some effect if deleted enough
and anatomized in a windex type spray bottle, in fact it would not
surprise me that you could use the new pink "COUNTRY GARDEN POTPOURRI
WINDEX" itself, just don't get carried away and always go prepared with
your smoker and veil.
 
The standard product warning that all should remember is that most of
the 100% pure undulated natural products called essential oils will take
the paint off a WW II battle ship just a quick as Navel Jelly and
should be handled with the same respect. It may be safer for some to
start out with the cheep Thrifty Mouth Wash as a mite frighten'er and wait
for the final say on the heavy duty stuff for smoking bees or frightening
bee pests. And for Honey's sake, remember that the more smoke you use,
be it real or not, the more you will get in the honey and nobody likes
honey that tastes like smoke unless it from the wild Thyme plants
themselves that is said to have a natural smoke flavor in the honey
made from it's nectar. Not sure if thats true, but we got some that
grows wild in the hills here and I am sure I have tasted it several
times and it was smokey tasting, but never got enough to extract to
really test.
 
 
Good Luck and please report any failures...!
 
                             ttul, the OLd Drone
 
 
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