9 replies to this topic

[BrittonLS]

So I was randomly watching bee keeping videos and one of them made a passing mention of fogging hives with mineral oil to kill parasitic mites on bees. Thought I'd bring it up since I know mites are a big concern for a lot of folks. It seems like the mineral oil suffocates the mites but doesn't harm the bees. The mineral oil is food safe and shouldn't kill anything chemically, from what I've seen. Whether or not it would suffocate ants or not could be worth looking into. There seem to be other methods including dusting with powdered sugar. Obviously it may be more effective against specific species of mites than others and could potentially be harmful to ants, especially smaller ones I imagine. Could be worth looking into for anyone wanting to do more than cursory research.

 

http://www.apiservic...mineral_oil.htm

[drtrmiller]

Mites and their eggs are extremely resilient to environmental changes, surviving extreme heat, cold, oxygen deprivation, physical trauma, and more.

Feel free to try and report your results, but I predict the usefulness of the technique will not transfer to ants.

Further, I also doubt the efficacy of the technique with bees. Parasitic mites usually have an advantage in numbers, and any mechanical mechanism of action, ie suffocation, is guaranteed to only affect a small, localized area.

[BrittonLS]

Mites and their eggs are extremely resilient to environmental changes, surviving extreme heat, cold, oxygen deprivation, physical trauma, and more.

Feel free to try and report your results, but I predict the usefulness of the technique will not transfer to ants.

Further, I also doubt the efficacy of the technique with bees. Parasitic mites usually have an advantage in numbers, and any mechanical mechanism of action, ie suffocation, is guaranteed to only affect a small, localized area.

Well fortunately, you don't have to doubt! The link I listed says exactly how effective it was! I appreciate you weighing in though. 

[drtrmiller]

My doubts were a result of reading the material.

Mites were not eliminated from any colony, only their numbers were reduced. Some bee colonies died during the test period. Only aerosolized mineral oil delivered through "fog" was judged to be an effective treatment.

[BrittonLS]

My doubts were a result of reading the material.

Mites were not eliminated from any colony, only their numbers were reduced. Some bee colonies died during the test period. Only aerosolized mineral oil delivered through "fog" was judged to be an effective treatment.

Yup, that's about what it said. Although I think the only ones that died were actually control groups. 

[drtrmiller]

Not "control groups;" the dead ones were conducted "in vitro," in the lab, full immersion in the oil.

[BrittonLS]

Anyway, it's worth noting for someone who can't get rid of parasitic mites on their colony. I don't have any mites or I'd certainly give it a try. What are some other methods you've seen work on mites?

[AntsMAN]

I once had a queen with a mite on her leg, when she brushed by a drop of honey the mite got stuck and died trying to crawl away.

I was told the honey may have dehydrated the mite.

[BrittonLS]

I once had a queen with a mite on her leg, when she brushed by a drop of honey the mite got stuck and died trying to crawl away.

I was told the honey may have dehydrated the mite.

Pretty good chance

[AntsMAN]

Great video thanks for sharing.