This is a little long, but Ruary Rudd contacted me off
the list, and suggested that a full explanation on the
list would not be all that boring, and might be a valuable
reference for someone.

Brace yourself, here comes the science...

Given that both Mike and Josh had a problem at cooler
temperatures, but at least Josh had no problem at warmer
temperatures, we may be seeing the result of the difference
in spray applicators, and hence amount of liquid used.

As I said in my prior message in this thread, using too much
of any repellent can "stun" bees.  They won't move because they
are gasping for air.  If there is too much liquid used, the
fumes will force a surprising amount of air out, and bees will
sit still and "keep rebooting" until they have enough air to
support movement.  While this is "easy" to do in warmer weather,
it is much harder to do with fume boards in cooler weather.
(One can still do this if using breeze boards, regardless of
ambient temperature, as breeze boards kick serious butt, which
is why the really big boys in the plains states have used them
for years.)

So the answer may be that one was using "enough" butyric,
but not "enough" Bee-Quick for the conditions at hand.

"Bee-Go", "Honey Robber", and all the other brands of
Butyric Anhydride come with "Yorker" pointed spout tops.

The minimal butyric "dose" one can apply with the most
gentle of squeezing actions is about 5 cc.  A typical
beekeeper painting an "X" or a "Z" of butyric on a fume
board can use as much as a full ounce of liquid without
really noticing just how much is being used/wasted.

In contrast, the fingertip pump-sprayers used on bottles
of Bee-Quick deliver 0.5 cc per pump.  To get equal
amounts of each liquid on a pair of fume boards will
take quite a few pumps of the sprayer, and will take
much longer with the Bee-Quick.  This is by design.

It should be clear that in cooler weather and/or in cases
where there is brood in the supers, one may need to use
more Bee-Quick than one might use in hotter weather.
(In fact, one needs more butyric too, but one is likely
using the same "overkill" amount every time one picks up
a bottle of butyric due to their primitive el-cheapo
dispenser, so one does not notice the waste when it is hot.)

So, while the butyric is getting credit for being "better"
at colder temperatures, this may be due to the consistent
use of far more butyric than would be prudent when it is
warmer. If you're human - and studies show that one third
of you may be - none of this is your fault.  It simply is
difficult to design something that works "perfectly" in
all cases under all conditions for all beekeepers, and I
had to make choices about how "powerful" a formulation was
prudent.

If one were to set up an actual test, and measure how much
butyric one was using (perhaps with the same pump-sprayers
for each), one would likely find that the limiting factor
was the combination of ambient temperature and solar radiation
rather than the choice of repellent.  This is because we have
adjusted the formulation of Bee-Quick to roughly equal butyric
when each are "used as directed".

Bottom line, it is hard to know from an armchair, one has
to "be there" to know for sure.  Maybe we should make a video...


The other question raised was how Bob Harrison expected to
drive colonies out the entrance.

The early formulations of Bee-Quick had a habit of driving
entire colonies right out the hive entrance, not a good
thing when all you wanted to do was harvest a few supers.

Bob Harrison's approach to using SOE allows us to consider
marketing these far too powerful (rejected) formulations
as "Bee-Quick Turbo" and "Bee-Quick Nitro" for his application
and (if we can work out the product liability issues) for
driving feral colonies out of wall cavities and such.
We can all the way up to "Weapons Grade" Bee-Quick if we have to.
Its just chemistry, after all.

It may well be that beekeepers in more northern locations
and harvest in fall might want to use "Turbo" or even "Nitro"
rather than standard Bee-Quick.  If we market one or both,
I'm not taking any responsibility for bees being driven out
the entrance when using either to harvest honey, but I'm not
going to question the abilities or skills of people like
Mike Palmer, who works more colonies every week than I
would ever want to.  :)

Maybe we put an eyedropper in the "Turbo" and "Nitro"
bottles to get people in the correct mindset...


    jim (Living in New York during the Republican
         convention is said to be fun, if by "fun"
         one means "living under martial law that
         might become a live ammo paintball game.")

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::