If one uses oil--I use cheapest vegetable oilout there--B4 pollen
collection--like right now--and after pollen collection--after
middle October here when frost kills flowers--there is NO danger
of oil contamination you refer to.
The bees chew up my paper towel and normal cast it out of the hive
in a week's time!  As I've posted before, I've been using vegetable
oil ever since the mites appeared in Maryland--10/15 years ago????
Darn sight cheaper than menthol crystals or patties or what not
and a lot simpler!
 
 
On Mon, 16 Feb 1998, Barricklow, Walt wrote:
 
> Ive seen the question asked, but have not seen the answer yet. "  Does a
> bee that has mineral oil all
> over her, and returns to the hive loaded with pollen, get mineral oil all
> over the pollen, and does it make
> a difference in the pollen, drying it, or freezing, or consuming it."?" or
> is the amount so minimal that it
> will make no difference.  The reason that I asked, is that the pollen seems
> more shiny than it has, before
> I used mineral oil, or even against the other hives that I did not use
> mineral oil.
>
 
**John Iannuzzi, Ph.D.
**38 years in apiculture
**12 hives of Italian honeybees
**At Historic Ellicott City, Maryland, 21042, U.S.A. (10 miles west of
   Baltimore, Maryland) [9772 Old Annapolis Rd - 410 730 5279]
**"Forsooth there is some good in things evil
   For bees extract sweetness from the weed" -- Bard of Avon
**Website: http://www.xmetric.com/honey
**Email: [log in to unmask] [1jan981031est]