>
> > you are however PRESUMING here that the bees would have to totally
> utilize the existing air when a more likely cause is the air was simply
> displaced when the product applied vaporized at fast rate and thereby
> forced any air from the hive.


I really try not to presume things.  I already posted the vapor pressures
of both butyric acid, and its anhydride.  Neither is remotely near strong
enough to drive air out of the hive.


> >So why are some bods using something that smells like vomit?  Is it
> regarded as character building?


The commercial butyric product that we use when it's hot does not smell
nearly as bad as the old Bee Go (we use pleasant-smelling benzaldehyde at
lower temperatures).

The reason that professional beekeepers use repellents in fume boards
(where it's permitted) is that the method quickly drives the bees from the
supers.  Clearing the supers with a fume board can be very quick on a warm
sunny day-two guys working as fast as they can will barely be able to keep
up with 5 fume boards.

Fume boards are far faster than using bee escape boards, shaking and
brushing, or blowing (although we use blowers to remove the remaining bees
after fuming).  Thus, the use of bee repellents is about saving labor costs
and the wear and tear on our bodies.

We reuse contact lens solution dropper bottles to apply the repellents in
the field--it takes only a small squirt in an "X" across the pad to clear
several supers.  We use only as much of the repellents as necessary--there
is no dripping from the fume boards.

Back when we used Bee Go, the smell would linger on our clothing.  We don't
notice it with our current product.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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