Nancy Goldblatt wrote:
> Recently met a person who is a bee keeper. In talking to him , found out
> there has been a huge destruction of bees by a mite that infests them.
>
> He said he was using essential oils to combat the mite, however, would
> prefer not to have to do this.
>
> My question is, does anyone know if cs could be used to destroy the mite
> that kills the bees? If so would he add cs to their food or spray it on
> bees?
The testing on this has been completed. Unfortunately it seems that
honeybees require bacteria in their gut to digest honey, and feeding CS will
cause them to starve to death.
Here is the report I just received on it:
Subject: Results of Tests
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 08:32:16 EDT
From: beeman
To: mdud...@execonn.com
Dear Marshall,
On July 1 1999 an experiment was begun to test your idea for use of
colloidal silver solution in the treatment of Mites in Honey Bee colonies.
July 1
Feed healthy observation hive silver solution at agreed measurement of 1 cup
to 1 gal ( liquid measurement ). Use of healthy hive will determine possible
toxicity to the bees themselves.
3:00 am - Confined bees to hive for initial feeding, Noted healthy laying
queen, 1 solid frame of brood, 1 partial frame, 1 empty super frame. All
frames covered with bees. No disease noted, no mites noted.
12:00 pm - Prepared 1 quart of solution and began feeding.
6:00 pm - Hive has taken aprox 1/4 quart jar. Outlying cells in the upper
brood frame are being filled with solution. Conditions normal.
6:30 pm - Noted queen laying normally.
9:15 pm - Wax drawing in progress in the upper brood frame, to increase
storage area. Bees on frame in " sweating posture " creating wax.
July 2 1999
11:00 am - Hive remains healthy. Aprox 1/2 quart of the solution has now been
taken in. Activity normal , Workers looking for a way out to forage. Will
confine them for 24 more hours, by then almost all food within hive will be
solution since there was only a little honey stored to begin with.
10:17 pm - Bottom of hive found to be clogged with dead bees. Have no choice
but to return them outside and open hive, will obtain bees for disection.
10:30 pm - Beginning disection by standard method used in Nosema detection.
10:50 pm - Disection is proving very difficult, results are the same with
euthanized bees recovered from hive as with bead bees. The abdomen of the bee
is greatly swollen, attempts to remove the gut in the usual manner is
impossible.
By slightly tearing the outer carapace it is possible to remove the gut.
Examination reveals the rectum to be greatly distended and filling most of
the abdomen ( almost like bees confined for a long period in the winter ) The
contents of the rectum are dark grey to black, ( 1 out of 30 contained a
yellowish color feces ). Vent. appears normal ; light grey to brown and not
distended.
Outwardly the bees appear normal, death does not appear to be caused by " old
age ".
July 3 1999
8:15 am - What remains this morning of 3 solid frames of bees appears to be
600 - 800 bees covering the brood as best as possible.
Removed aprox 1 level pint of dead bees from interior bottom of hive,
remaining adult workers on exterior of hive, move very little and 10 were
actually observed to fall off onto the ground. They do not attempt flight.
Total uptake of solution : 1/2 quart , suspected leakage of 1/4 ounce
possibly.
Removed solution jar at this time.
July 4 1999
No further massive deaths.
July 5 1999
Will leave the hive to itself until the 11th. A week should be long enough to
see if it will begin to recover.
July 11 1999
7:00 am
Found ground in front of hive covered with dead bees. Inspection of hive
revealed all brood rearing to have stopped.
All honey stores are gone and many bees are found dead " head in " the cells
as can be found in starvation cases in winter. All brood that was being fed a
week ago is gone. The queen is alive and the bees appear to be surviving on
buckwheat nectar from the field nearby. Only 1 frame of bees remain. No
attempt on the queens part to lay( probably due to lack of stores).
Summation
Although the initial idea of using the silver solution seemed sound, the
Honey Bee is after all an insect and the solution has had the same effect on
them as was hoped for in the mite, Starvation.
The bees simply gorged themselves to death, no matter how much they ate they
still starved.
--
The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver.
To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to:
silver-list-requ...@eskimo.com -or- silver-digest-requ...@eskimo.com
with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line.
To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com
List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@id.net>
