Depends on what one means by "essential oils". It may sound groovy to bathe
in an atmosphere of "essential oils" but how do you know what these oils do
when blended together? Mixing different essential oils together for use in
beehives can be disastrous, I agree, for the reason that Lloyd points out -
the separate components have different volatilities and other properties and
therefore the target can be affected in a different ways varying with
environmental conditions and synergy or otherwise between the active
ingredients. However, AN essential oil on its own may have merit as an
effective active ingredient, providing enough research is done into
formulation and application methods. For example, wasn't menthol used for
quite a while in N. America as a control agent for tracheal mite? Saved a
lot of hives I thought.

Many respected bee researchers and scientists "over the pond" here in Europe
have worked on and recommend some individual essential oils; thymol in
particular is held in high regard as a reliable control agent, depending on
the presentation. I don't think there's any getting away from the natural
variation in effect from one colony to the next but good formulation should
be able to minimise those differences and provide a reasonable control. I
don't think we can rely entirely on any one treatment in future, IPM has to
come in at some stage, even if it does mean more work.


Max

Dr Max Watkins
Vita (Europe) Limited
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UK

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