At 12:02 PM 24/10/97 -0600, you wrote:
>This fall I used a mixture of Crisco and menthol to treat for tracheal
>mites. The menthol pellets were dissolved in melted Crisco and the mixture
>was soaked up in a roll of shop grade paper towels. One towel was placed
>in the top of each hive.
>
>I will not know until spring how effective this treatment is, but I did
>make an interesting observation a week or two later. The temperature is
>quite cold now ( -2C to +7C ) but, since my hives are insulated above, the
>bees generated enough heat to vaporise the menthol. The inner covers,
>however, were cold enough to cause the menthol vapor to recrystallize in
>long thin needles on the lower surface. On checking unused towels
>with a magnifier, one can see the menthol has recrystallized there in very
>tiny needles.
>
 
Of course it does.  Everyone knows that's how menthol works.  As the needles
drop down they pierce and kill the mites.  In more evolved bees they can
actually break off these needles and attack the mites.
 
Eric Abell
Gibbons, Alberta Canada T0A 1N0
Ph/fax (403) 998 3143
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