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Subject:
From:
"Steven A. Creasy" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 11 Sep 1996 19:49:14 PST
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I received the following from Mr. Amerine at U of WV.  I hope it will be
of interest...
Forwarded message follows::
>
 
Dear Steve,
 
There is practically no difference between natural and synthetic
wintergreen. The natural oil is 99% the same as the synthetic. We have
tried
both, and both are equally effective; other beekeepers have corroborated=
 this.
 
I am attaching a file that is the basis of our web page. I hope it is
useful
to you.
 
File:
 
Preliminary Results of Research
Varroa Mite Control, 1996
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/varroa.htm
 
(Update: September 10, 1996). We are going to update this web page about
monthly as we learn more from our experiments and as we receive results from
other beekeepers. This page is designed for beekeepers; for those needing
help with terminology, please see Graham, J. 1992. The Hive and the Honey
Bee, Dadant & Sons, Hamilton IL, 1324 pp.
 
Eradication possible?  We believe that during the late fall and early
winter
the varroa mite is very susceptible to control by essential oils. By
treating hives with the grease patties containing wintergreen, tea tree
or
patchouli oils, and making sure the treatment is near the cluster, then
the
varroa mites will have no place to hide and all can be killed. (No brood
cells will be available as shelters.) Because most of the country has
lost
feral colonies, and only careful beekeepers now have bees, a concerted
effort by all beekeepers at this time may achieve eradication of the
varroa
mite.  We are not as sure about tracheal mite--(there are so few around
this
area that we can not find a sufficient infestation to test), but it, too,
may be susceptible to winter treatment with grease patties. Perhaps
adding
menthol to the grease patties may be lethal to them as well. This critical
opportunity in beekeeping may not come around again for some time to
come:
our scenario is that with the feral colonies gone, many new colonies will
be
established in the next few years which will have  light infestations of
mites; swarms will issue from these and begin to reestablish a feral
population--containing at first a few varroa mites. In a few seasons these
will increase and another epidemic of fatal varroa mite + PMS will occur.
As
the new feral colonies increase, it will become impossible to find  them
and
to eradicate their varroa mites. That is why now is such a special=
 opportunity.
 
Summary of Treatments:
 
We have refined our experimental treatments as follows:
 
1). Syrup: 25 drops (1 cc) of wintergreen or spearmint added to two cups
(about one pound or 453.6 grams) of sugar in a quart jar (0.95 liter);
hot
water added to fill jar.  Be sure to add the oil to the granulated sugar
then add the very warm water (not too hot or else the oils will
evaporate).
Feed the bees as much syrup as they will take. We have had good results
with
wintergreen, spearmint, and peppermint oils.
 
2). Grease patties: are made with four cups of granulated sugar, two cups
of
shortening and one of the following: 21 cc of wintergreen oil or 21 cc of
patchouli oil or 21 cc or tea tree oil or 11.5 cc of each of two oils
(eg.,
wintergreen + patchouli). (This rate is 1/4 oz. of essential oils per pound
of sugar and grease). The components are thoroughly mixed (wear gloves or
use a large spoon, as wintergreen oil in such concentrations may be
toxic;
patchouli oil is not toxic). The mixture is then made up into 4 ounce
patties (like a small, 3.5" hamburger) which are divided and  placed on top
of each brood box (about one half pound or 8 ozs. of grease patties per
hive; one batch treats 5.8 hives). We plan to make patties this fall that
also contain terramycin (TM25) to determine whether medications can be
combined for both mites and foul brood.=20
 
3). Tracking strips: are made by cutting sheets or pieces of 1/8 in.
plexiglass into strips 3" wide by 14" long  (7.5 cm by 35.5 cm ), and
used
as a base for holding a treated slurry containing essential oil. The
slurry
is made as follows: 17.5 ozs. (2 and 1/5 cups) of canola oil are mixed
with
6.5 ozs. (slightly more than 4/5 cup) of melted beeswax, stirred and set
on
a hot plate. To this liquid add 24 cc's of wintergreen oil (or 24 cc's of
patchouli oil or 12 cc's of each ). Stir well and pour into three  8 oz.
plastic cups. When cooled, the slurry has a shoe-polish or salve-like
consistency. Then, 2 to 3 teaspoons of the slurry are applied to the
tracking strip which is placed lengthwise just inside the front entrance
of
each colony. The bees must track through this slurry when they enter or
exit
the hive; they then clean off the slurry by eating it and feeding it to each
other. Treatments are repeated after 5 days: the old slurry, dead mites
and
dead, deformed bees are scraped off and new slurry added. Plexiglass is used
for tracking strips because it has a very smooth finish allowing an even
coverage and it is too hard for the bees to chew up or remove; masonite
or
other similar material could be used just as well.
 
4). Paper inserts at top of hive: For control of varroa mite on displaced
nurse bees (see below).  Use 2 cups of canola oil containing 11 cc's of
wintergreen; put some in a honey bear (as a squeeze bottle) and apply 6
lines of wintergreen oil in both directions on a paper towel so that the
towel is saturated.  The bees chew it up and remove it in a week or so.
You
should replace it as needed to treat the varroa mites trying to avoid the
other treatments.
 
Varroa Mite Assessment: You can place a sticky board on the bottom of the
hive in combination with both patties and a tracking strip to obtain a
good
count of varroa mites within 24 to 48 hours: in our tests the essential
oils
killed more mites than Apistan.
 
We use the essential oils throughout the year, either feeding syrup (when
nectar is not coming in), using patties (pretty much year around, but
bees
do not use the patties as much during honey flows), and using the
tracking
strips, which are especially useful during the honey flows.
 
We have found in recent months:
 
When nectar flows are coming in, the bees tend to ignore the syrup and
the
grease patties and the number of reproducing mites increase; that is why
Bob
developed the tracking strip, to insure that varroa mites are treated.
When
tracking strips are used, the varroa mites will enter cells being capped
in
order to escape the essential oils; drone cells are preferred. =20
 
Grease patties containing spearmint oil were propolized, but not those
patties made with wintergreen, tea tree or patchouli oils.=20
 
We recently found that the varroa mites were able to escape treatment
despite using both tracking strips and grease patties (or tracking strips
and syrup). We found that displaced nurse bees which gather under the inner
cover were used as a hiding place by the mites. We treated this group of
mites by putting a piece of paper towel treated with canola oil +
wintergreen just under the inner cover. We used 2 cups of canola oil
containing 11 cc's of wintergreen; put some in a honey bear (as a squeeze
bottle) and applied 6 lines of wintergreen oil in both directions on the
towel so that the towel was saturated.  The bees chewed it up and removed
it
in a week or so. You should replace it as needed to treat the varroa mites
trying to avoid the other treatments.
 
Queens: A potential problem may be that queens on mating flights may have
their pheromone masked or may become somewhat disoriented by the
essential
oils. We recommend that the treatments be removed from the hives when
queen
rearing and mating is taking place.
 
Drones: We found that large numbers of drone cells provide protection to
the
varroa mites and are definitely the source of most breeding varroa mites.
Consequently, we recommend that the amount of available drone cells be
kept
to a mininmum; be sure to remove and replace old comb containing lots of
irregular drone cells. (See the literature for techniques using periodic
drone removal to reduce varroa mites).=20
 
Large colonies: When hives have many supers, the treatment for the varroa
mites is "diluted". So, remove and extract honey supers and reduce the
hives
to two chambers or to one and a half chambers as soon as possible; in
this
way, the treatment will be more effective.=20
 
Note about tracheal mite: We checked Bob's colonies for tracheal mite by
collecting older foragers: those that have frayed wings and a bald
thorax.
We removed their heads and first pair of legs and examined the tracheae
visible inside the cavity where the legs were (peel off the "collar" with
forceps); infested tracheae could be seen with a hand lens and were dark
spotted or uniformly dark. Results: in control colonies (no treatments)
30%
had tracheal mites; in treated colonies, 10% had tracheal mites. Since
bees
are able to drift considerable distances, we suspect that some of those
in
our treated colonies may have come in from other, declining feral colonies
in the neighborhood (a few feral colonies still remain near Cumberland,
but
these should be gone soon). The older bees give a more reliable test for
the
presence and extent of infestation by tracheal mite.
 
Original page (Prepared July 1996, published in the Amer. Bee Journal,
September, 1996.):
 
In our opinion, Bob Noel, Beekeeper in Cumberland Maryland,  has
discovered
an effective and economical control for varroa mite (Varroa  jacobsoni
Oudemans (Acari: Varroidae)) and probably also for tracheal mite
(Acarapis
woodi (Rennie) (Acari: Tarsonemidae)).
 
The following is a brief account of our work and preliminary findings
during
the past 14 months.
 
In summer and fall of 1995, Bob fed syrups containing essential oils1 to
his
bees, specifically wintergreen oil and spearmint oil. He added 10 to 20
drops (1/2 to 1 cc, respectively) of the oils to 453.6 grams (one pound)
of
sugar in a 0.95 liter (1 quart)  jar, and hot water was added to fill the
jar. This syrup was then fed to the bees at the entrance using a standard
boardman feeder. He applied the two syrups to 14 hives as follows:
spearmint
oil to 5 colonies and wintergreen to 9 colonies beginning in July and
continuing until October. In July, 1995, many of his colonies were
heavily
infested with varroa mite displayed typical PMS (parasitic mite
syndrome):
they were suffering from mite viruses, such as ABPV, CBPV, Kashmir Virus
and
from sacbrood which was quite heavy, and the brood pattern was scattered
and
incomplete, very similar to American foul brood (AFB) (however, none of the
colonies had AFB). Many of the emerging workers were small with shriveled
wings and very small abdomens. Two of the colonies were so weak in July
that
wax moths were attacking comb and brood. Syrups were given ad lib and
topped
up daily. Bob assayed varroa mite populations by opening sealed brood
cells,
both drone and worker, by observing emerging brood and by directly
observing
varroa mite behavior.=20
 
Results: after using treated syrups for three weeks, Bob noticed improved
brood patterns, healthier bees, and reduced mite populations. After 30
days
of treatment (we inspected the colonies in August, 1995) varroa mites
were
definitely in decline and the bees were considerably recovered from PMS.
We
observed numerous varroa mites and PMS in control (untreated) colonies.
On
21 September, we thoroughly inspected several hives; those that were
treated
with syrups were virtually free of varroa mite, whereas untreated control
colonies in the area were heavily attacked by varroa mite, had typical
PMS,
and were beginning to die off.
 
In November 1995, Bob found that two of his bee yards (Oldtown, MD and
Kifer, MD) which were free of varroa mites in July and August, were
heavily
infested with varroa mites (2-3 mites per adult bee). We believe that
workers from collapsing feral colonies had joined with these colonies
bringing in enormous numbers of varroa mites. Bob treated some colonies
with
apistan strips and grease patties (without essential oils) and others
with
grease patties containing the following: four cups of granulated sugar, two
cups of shortening and 4.8 cc's of wintergreen oil. This mixture was made
into 8 oz patties and placed one per colony above the cluster. The
following
spring and early summer only a trace of varroa mite could be found in the
hives treated with the grease patties containing wintergreen oil; several
of
the colonies treated only with apistan and standard grease patties died
out.=
=20
 
In May 1996, Bob devised the tracking strip method of varroa mite control:
strips of 1/8 in. plexiglass, 7.5 cm by 35.5 cm (3" by 14"), were used as
a
support for a slurry made as follows: 4 parts mineral oil mixed with 1.5
parts melted beeswax; this liquid was then poured into 4 oz. baby food jars
to which 2 cc's of patchouli oil and 2 cc's of wintergreen oil were
added.
Then =BD to 3 teaspoons of the slurry were applied to the each tracking=
 strip
with fingers, which were placed lengthwise just inside the front entrance
of
each colony. He began these treatments early in May. The day after strips
were applied, dead varroa mites were found on the tracking
strips--several
dead mites per colony.=20
 
Bob's associate, Harry Mallow (a beekeeper for 30 years, former Maryland
bee
inspector, and former president of the Maryland State Beekeepers
Association) treated one hive (his last surviving colony at beeyard No.
2)
with the tracking strip on 31 May, 1996 (double the dose of patchouli and
wintergreen oils; i.e., 4 cc of each oil in 4 ozs. of the slurry). On
June
1st, both Harry and Bob observed several 100's of dead varroa mites at
the
entrance, on and around the strip. They returned on June 2nd to videotape
the dead mites--most had been carried off  by ants, but several dozen dead
mites still remained at the entrance. Amrine inspected this colony on 6
June, 1996, and found very few live varroa mites on workers in the hive
(two
were seen on 1000's of bees examined). About 100 sealed drone cells were
examined; several recently capped drone cells contained 18 to 25 highly
aggitated varroa mites--they ran around the larva or pupa very rapidly and
ran quickly onto and over the combs. It appears that at the time of
treatment they entered nearly capped drone cells as if they were "bomb
shelters" to avoid the tracking material. The older capped drone cells
(with
colored pupae and capped before the treatment) contained normal numbers
of
normally developing varroa mites.
 
On June 6, 1996, Amrine inspected 12 of Bob Noel's colonies, in three bee
yards, and collected all varroa mites that could be found. About 100
sealed
drone cells and several worker cells were opened in each colony. Four
sealed
drone cells were found infested with varroa at his "Rick's" bee yard in
Cumberland, MD: two in colony number 4, treated with a tracking strip
containing the mineral oil-beeswax slurry and 4 cc of patchouli oil in a
baby food jar (4 oz); and one each in colonies 2 and 3 which were treated
with the same slurry containing 2 cc of wintergreen oil and 2 cc of
patchouli oil (in 4 oz.). Varroa mites were not found in hive number 1
(same
treatment as hives 2 and 3). We regard these numbers as a trace
infestation
of varroa mites. (The same colonies were inspected by Maryland bee
inspector
Dave Thomas, who reported no live varroa mites on 18 May, 1996). No
deformed
bees were found; there were 12 to 14 frames of brood in each colony which
were the best looking colonies we have seen in the last three years.
 
Inspection of the Kifer, MD bee yard resulted in finding only two sealed
drone cells with varroa mites (one each) out of 100 drone cells examined
(hive number 3). This hive had been treated only with grease patty +
wintergreen oil in November 1995, and a tracking strip (slurry made from 4
parts canola oil + 1.5 parts melted beeswax and 2 cc of patchouli oil)
was
added 30 May 1996. The colonies had two or three mites per adult bee in
November, 1995.
 
Inspection of the Oldtown, MD, bee yard resulted in finding 3 sealed drone
cells containing varroa mites out of 100 cells examined in each of two
colonies. These had been treated with grease patties containing wintergreen
oil in November 1995, and had received no other treatment. In November, the
colonies had two or three varroa mites per adult bee.
 
Conclusions:
 
Bob Noel's experiments from July 1995 to the present have demonstrated
that
essential oils in sugar syrup, grease patties and tracking strips are
able
to greatly reduce populations of varroa mites in bee colonies. 1)
Spearmint
oil at the rate of  =BD to 1 cc per quart of syrup (1# of sugar) had the=
 best
results when fed in July through October; wintergreen oil was less
effective, but still highly effective, in these experiments. 2) Grease
patties containing 4.8 cc's of wintergreen oil were very effective from
November until April in reducing and nearly eliminating varroa mites in
heavily infested colonies treated in November. 3) Tracking strips
containing
2cc of patchouli oil and 2 cc of wintergreen oil (or 4 cc of patchouli
oil)
are very effective in controlling varroa mites during spring build up. 4)
In
all cases of successful treatments, the essential oils were delivered to
the
brood nest of the treated colonies. The importance of this last observation
can not be overemphasized. Two experiments of ours support the importance
of
this point.
 
 First, Harry Mallow began sugar syrup treatment of 16 colonies at his
bee
yard No. 1 in September, 1995. He treated 8 colonies with syrup and
essential oils only (4 with 15 drops of wintergreen oil per pound of
sugar,
and 4 with 15 drops of spearmint oil); the cans were placed at the top of
the colonies (in contrast to boardman feeders placed at the entrance by
Bob
Noel). [Nurse bees and foragers collect nectar from a boardman feeder and
the syrup and essential oils go to the brood; feeders at the top of a
hive
do not usually deliver syrups or food directly to the brood nest.] Four
more
of his colonies were given wintergreen syrup + apistan strips and the
last
four colonies were given untreated syrup as controls. Only the four
colonies
with wintergreen syrup + apistan survived. These colonies were treated
too
late and the syrup was fed in the wrong location: at the top of the
colony
instead of the entrance.
 
Second, Harry also treated one colony located in his beeyard No. 3 in
April
of 1996 with canola oil + wintergreen oil (4 cc of wintergreen in 4 ozs.
of
canola); a folded  paper towel with canola + wintergreen was laid on a
queen
excluder above the cluster. He got a good kill of varroa mites (many were
found dead on the bottom board). He continued this treatment for several
weeks. We inspected the colony on 6 June, 1996: a paper towel with canola
oil was on top of a queen excluder at the top of the colony (1 and =BD=
 story);
it had not been touched by the bees (in contrast, the original paper
towel
was shredded by the bees in April). [After April, the bees have little
reason to go to the upper part of the hive and will not be affected by
treatments placed there.] About 100 sealed brood cells (mostly drone)
were
examined  in this colony; about 1/4 of the drone cells contained normally
developing varroa mites. Obviously, this treatment, though effective in
April when the cluster was near the top of the upper super, was no longer
working. Thus the presence of the essential oils in the top of the hive
was
insufficient to cause reduction of varroa mite. This probably explains
some
of the negative reports we have read or heard from other researchers
using
essential oils--they apparently did not deliver the oils to the brood nest
in a way that nurse bees and foraging bees would be treated; thus the
tracking board at the entrance is highly effective, the syrup fed by
boardman feeder is highly effective, and treated grease patties above the
fall and winter cluster proved highly effective. The treatments must be
delivered to the brood nest--in such a way that nurse bees and foraging
bees
are treated.
 
Proposed mechanisms of action:
 
Our observations of Bob Noel's experiments in 1995 and 1996 indicate the
following mechanisms are probably at work in controlling varroa mites:
 
1)  Direct toxicity: The grease patties and tracking strips indicate that
the essential oils are able to kill varroa mites by direct contact,
within
24 hours or less. Honey bees are  not harmed by these oils at the rates
used; honey has not been found to be contaminated by any of the
treatments
used to date (taste test). The evidence to date is strong enough to prove
that this is definitely a mechanism of varroa mite control; however, no
case
has been observed where direct toxicity has totally elliminated the
mites.
For now, it can only be regarded as a partial control and effective only
at
time of treatment and for several days following.
 
2) Sensory disruption: it seems that the essential oils from grease
patties
and tracking strips are able to mask the normal chemosensory receptors on
the tarsi and mouthparts of varroa mites, disrupting the mite's ability
to
function normally. As a result, they are not able to properly invade
larval
cells about to be capped, nor do they seem to be able to properly insert
themselves under the sternites of worker bees and feed on bee hemolymph.
They may not be able to recognize adults and mature larvae of honey bees
because of the presence of the grease + oils on the mites' cuticle and
sensory receptors. This mechanism is hypothetical and is supported
indirectly by observations of behavior of varroa mites in treated
colonies
by Bob Noel, Harry Mallow and us.
 
3)  Reproductive disruption: it is apparent that varroa mites in all
three
methods of treatments are not able to reproduce normally. Examination of
cells at or near the time of emergence of bees and mites from
mite-infested
cells in treated colonies show that few newly developed females are
found;
many cells have been found containing dead immature mites and single
females
that never reproduced (so-called nonreproducing or sterile females). We
conclude that the essential oils are able to disrupt the reproductive
mechanism of the varroa mite.=20
 
It is known that under natural, untreated conditions, the female varroa
mite, after feeding on a larva in a sealed cell for 1-2 days, normally
becomes "gravid"--she appears swollen and the cuticular membrane between
the
sternal and genital plates becomes stretched and evident as white borders
around the plates. The so-called "eggs" deposited by the female are in
reality immature mites that are ready to emerge as protonymphs, the
embryonic and larval stages having been completed within the chorion
inside
the body of the female. Thus, the female is converting the blood of the
bee
larva and/or pupa into nutrients for each developing immature mite. This
part of the varroa's development is viewed by us as its weakest point, the
so-called "Achilles' Heel" of the varroa mite, and appears to be the
major
target of  action of the essential oils. The oils may be disrupting
enzyme
systems used to convert bee blood nutrients into nutrients for the
developing immature mites and so the females are not able to produce
"eggs".
Also, after hatching, very few of the mites in treated colonies were able
to
complete development by the time the bee emerged from the cell.=20
 
These mechanisms help explain observations given to us by several beekeepers
where  honey bee colonies were located in regions with blooming plants
rich
with essential oils, such as mints, melaleucas, eucalypts, etc., and
which
were often found to be free of, or not harmed by,  varroa mites. We
presume
that the bees foraged on flowers of the plants, or on the resins of the
plants for propolis, and returned to their colonies with these nectars or
resins containing essential oils. Appartently, enough of the essential
oils
reached the brood cells so that the development of the varroa mites was
disrupted in the colonies. This probably explains the failure of varroa
mites to develop in many tropical regions, such as Brazil: the large
variety
of native flora apparently produce essential oils in nectar, pollen or
propolis to the extent that normal reproduction of the mites is impaired.
 
We believe that these essential oils, which were originally produced by
the
host plants in order to kill, repel or prevent arthropod attack, are a very
natural means of mite control. Honey bees are not affected by the
essential
oils, especially those from Lamiaceae (the mint family), because of
concurrent evolution of the bees with these flowering plants and their
essential oils; the bees long ago developed techniques to avoid, or
counteract, the toxicity of the essential oils. However, the varroa
mites,
which were originally on Apis cerana in South and East Asia, apparently
are
susceptible to the essential oils. An important question is whether
varroa
mites will be able to evolve resistance to the essential oils; only time
will tell. However, there are so many essential oils available, that if
resistance to one appears, another oil may be substituted; the only real
fear is whether varroa mite may eventually develop resistance to the
entire
class of essential oils.
 
Our future research will be directed toward 1) finding an essential oil
treatment that will totally erradicate varroa mites from hives; 2) providing
evidence to elucidate and document the mechanism(s) by which varroa mites
are controlled by essential oils; 3) testing the oils at increased levels
to
determine toxicity levels to honey bees; 4) testing honey and beeswax
harvested from treated hives for the presence of residues of essential
oils.
 
We encourage other beekeepers to conduct research similar to ours in
order
to help find a way to eliminate bee mites. Please let us know if you have
had similar results. Our interests in this project are strictly
non-profit
and for the benefit of the honey bee industry and beekeeping in general.
 
Respectfully submitted,=20
 
James W. Amrine, Jr.,   Terry A. Stasny, and Robert Skidmore
West Virginia University
 
We can be reached at the following mailing addresses:
 
Robert C. Noel, Teacher, Fort Hill High School
   Computer Science and School Coordinator
108 Blackiston Ave.
Cumberland, MD 21502 =20
Telephone: 301-724-3529
 
Harry A. Mallow, Former Regional Bee Inspector, Allegheny & Garrett Cos.
    Md. Dept of Agric. (under John Lindner)
11914 Valley Rd. NE
Cumberland, MD 21502=20
Telephone: 301-724-2191
 
James W. Amrine, Jr.2 (Professor),  Terry A. Stasny 2 (Research Acarologist)
and Robert Skidmore
    (Apiculture graduate student)
Division of Plant and Soil Sciences,
P. O. Box 6108, West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV 26505-6108
Telephone: 304-293-6023;  E-mail: [log in to unmask]
 
1 For a source of essential oils, we recommend Lorann Oils, 4518 Aurelius
Road, P. O. Box 22009, Lansing, MI 48909-2009. Toll free number is
1-800-248-1302. Fax number is 517-882-0507. Lorann Oils will send
catalogs
to callers and will sell essential oils at wholesale prices to beekeepers
(callers must identifiy themselves as beekeepers) in quantities from 1
oz.
to 1 gallon. Beekeepers needing larger quantities should call for special
pricing.
 
2 Amrine has been teaching beekeeping at WVU since 1978, is past
president
of the Eastern Apiculture Society (1982) and is current president of the
Morgantown Area Beekeepers Association; Stasny is founder of the
Morgantown
Area Beekeepers Association (1977), and has been a beekeeper for 30
years;
Skidmore was a bee inspector for the Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture,
Erie, Pennsylvania area in 1995.
 
 
Standard Equivalents and Measures:
 
1 pound =3D 453.597 grams =3D .453 Kg
1 Kg =3D 2.2046 pounds
 
1 fluid ounce =3D 29.57373 cc
1/4 oz =3D 7.3934 cc
 
1 cc =3D  0.0338 oz.
       =3D  25 drops from a standard medicine dropper
 
10 cc =3D .338 oz or about 1/3 ounce or two teaspoonfuls
 
1 fluid dram =3D 3.6967 cc=20
                    =3D 0.125 ounces
                    =3D 1/8 oz.
                    =3D .75 tsp.
 
1 teaspoonful =3D 1.33333 fluid drams
                     =3D 4.93 cc,
        or      =3D approximately 5 cc
                     =3D 1/6 oz.
 
=BD tsp.           =3D 2.465 cc
           Or     =3D approx. 2.5 cc
 
1/4 tsp.         =3D  1.2325 cc
 
1/8 tsp          =3D   0.62 cc
 
1 tablespoonful =3D 3  teaspoonfuls, =3D 4 drams
                         =3D 14.7868 cc
          or          =3D approximately 15 cc
                        =3D1/2 oz.
 
1 cup =3D 8 ounces or =BD pound
          =3D  236.58984 cc
 
=BD cup =3D 4 ounces
          =3D  118.29492 cc
 
1/3 cup =3D 2.666667 ozs
             =3D 78.86328 cc
 
1/4 cup =3D 2 ounces
             =3D 59.14746 cc
 
1/8 cup =3D 1 ounce=20
             =3D 29.57373 cc
             =3D 8 drams
             =3D 6 tsp. or 2 tablespoonfulls
 
1 common ounce dry weight (avdp) =3D 28.34952 grams
 
1 cup sugar =3D 218.3 grams (by experiment) =3D 7.7 oz. Avdp.
1 cup crisco =3D 217.36 grams (by experiment) =3D 7.66 oz. Avdp.
 
Example, making grease patties:
 
A standard container of crisco weighs 3 lbs. To this add 6 lbs of sugar,
for
a total of 9 lbs. Nine lbs of grease patties requires 1/4 oz. per pound =3D
9*.25=3D 2.25 ozs or 66.5 cc of wintergreen (a little more than 1/4 cup
or=
 1/4
cup + 1 and 1/2 tsp.)
=20
 
 
Sincerely,
 
Jim Amrine
Division of Plant & Soil Sciences
P. O. Box 6108, West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV 26506-6108
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