Cream of tartar, also known as potassium hydrogen tartrate or potassium bitartrate (KC4H5O6), is a white, powdery, acidic substance that is a byproduct of the wine-making industry. It is [...]]]> Okay, this is one of those ongoing arguments: some say “yes” and some say “no.” But first, why is cream of tartar even an issue?

Cream of tartar, also known as potassium hydrogen tartrate or potassium bitartrate (KC₄H₅O₆), is a white, powdery, acidic substance that is a byproduct of the wine-making industry. It is found on the inside of wine barrels after the grapes have fermented. The tartrate is processed into a salt which has many culinary uses.

Candy makers add cream of tartar to sugar syrups to prevent crystallization. Without the addition, candy made from sugar syrup has a grainy texture. With the addition, candy has a smooth, glossy, and creamy texture.

When beekeepers started using candy recipes for making bee supplements, many left the cream of tartar in the recipe. It was left there without much thought about its purpose. So basically cream of tartar in “bee candy” is just an artifact remaining from “people candy” recipes.

Although the debate continues over whether it harms bees, I’ve never seen data from even one controlled scientific experiment concerning this issue. So, in short, I’m just as clueless as anybody else about the chemical’s effect on honey bees.

However, since we don’t know if it causes harm, and since it doesn’t appear to be a part of the honey bee’s natural diet, why give it to them? So the sugar cakes are gritty–so what? I’ve never heard a bee complain about gritty-textured candy and I’ve never seen a bee push away from the table when presented with it.

So stop being so anthropocentric! Just skip the cream of tartar and make bee candy with sugar, water, and one of the essential oils known to be good for honey bee health such as spearmint or lemongrass. That’s it—there is really no need for corn syrup, cream of tartar, vinegar, preservatives, stabilizers, emulsifiers, or anything else humans may like in their sweets.

Rusty

Freshly poured candy cakes made from sugar, water, and a few drops anise oil.

MREs for bees. Pop out the candy cakes and you can re-use the paper plates.

I have never grown anise in the garden. But of [...]]]> Yesterday a reader, Harold Owen, commented on my post “Five Favorite Plants for the Bee Garden” by saying that anise is an excellent bee attractant. He is absolutely right. I want to thank him for mentioning it because anise is a great bee plant.

I have never grown anise in the garden. But of all the essential oils I have experimented with, anise is the all-time winner for attracting bees. Whenever I have bees that won’t drink their sugar syrup, I place one or two drops of anise oil in the feed. The next morning the feeder is empty. It never fails.

It seems that sometimes in the late fall when it starts getting cold at night, the bees are not motivated to collect their syrup. So I always keep a little bottle of anise oil on hand as a feeding stimulant. They go crazy over it—more than any other scent I know of.

I first learned about this on someone’s blog a number of years ago. At the time I was experimenting with various oils as feeding stimulants, including tea tree, rosemary, thyme, lemon, wintergreen—whatever I could find, but anise was the hands-down favorite (or maybe the feet-down favorite) of all the colonies I tried it on.

Anise is an annual herb native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean region. It bears loads of white flowers that attract bees and the seeds are the source of the anise oil. Select a sunny location and plant the seeds in well-drained soil as soon as the ground starts to warm in spring. Because anise has a taproot, it does not transplant well, so plant the seeds in their final location. Water regularly, but sparingly. Plants grow to about two feet high.

Note: Anise (Pimpinella anisum) is sometimes confused with anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) which is an excellent bee plant in its own right. Anise hyssop is neither a true anise nor a true hyssop, but is one of the many species of Agastache. Both Agastache and the true hyssops are in the mint (Lamiaceae) family whereas anise is in the carrot (Apiaceae) family.

Rusty

Pimpinella anisum. Hand-colored engraving by James Sowerby 1793.

A grease patty with essential oils [...]]]> Grease patties provide a way to help keep Varroa mite populations low during the winter, assuming they are low to start with. A hive that is already heavily infected with Varroa will not benefit from grease patties because the bees will not be healthy enough to consume it.

A grease patty with essential oils added—usually wintergreen or tea tree—helps to control mites in two ways. First, the grease tends to get all over the bees, and a slippery surface is difficult for the mites to hang onto. Some research has shown that mite drops may be two to three times greater in the presence of grease patties.

Secondly, the essential oils have a repellent effect on the mites. In addition, some research indicates that if mites come into direct contact with wintergreen or tea tree oil it can kill them outright or interfere with their breeding cycle. Although the EPA does not recognize these oils as being effective, there is much evidence in the beekeeping community that the oils work quite well. Many beekeepers keep grease patties on the hive year-round, but patties with essential oils incorporated into them should not be used when honey supers are on the hive.

Many recipes for grease patties can be found, but the one from the University of West Virginia is quite popular and appears below. The only problem I see with this recipe is the use of honey. If you do not have disease-free honey from your own apiary, do not use honey. I recommend substituting heavy syrup (2 parts sugar to one part water) for the honey unless you are absolutely certain you know the origin of the honey. This point cannot be stressed too much. Honey may contain spores of American foul brood and can easily transmit the disease to your hives. Although, harmless to humans, these spores can wreak havoc on your apiary.

The inclusion of salt provides the bees with essential minerals that they usually get from the environment when they collect water and other materials. Since these products are not collected in the winter, the salt helps to round out the honey bee diet. The sugar and/or honey simply make the patties more attractive to the bees.

The patties can be made in advance and kept in the freezer until you need them. Beekeepers usually place four or five small patties (about 2 ounces each) on the top bars and one just inside the front entrance.

Wintergreen oil can be toxic to humans when absorbed through the skin, so always wear protective gloves when mixing the patties.

Grease Patties

Yield:

One batch will treat 8-10 hives. You can easily increase or decrease the recipe size depending on your needs.

Ingredients:

4.4 pounds (2 kg) granulated sugar

3 ounces (90 ml) corn oil

1.5 pounds (0.7 kg) vegetable shortening (Crisco)

1 pound (454 g) honey

1/2 pound (227 g) mineral salt (pink color)

2.2 ounces (65 ml) wintergreen oil (or tea tree oil)

Directions:

Step 1: Pulverize the salt so that it mixes evenly throughout the patty. This also prevents water droplets from forming around salt crystals.

Step 2: Mix all the ingredients thoroughly using protective gloves.

Step 3: Make patties the size of small hamburgers.

Step 4: Store in freezer until ready to use.

By the way, if you can’t find a source of mineral salt—or you don’t want to buy a 50-pound bag—go to your pet store and buy a “bunny wheel.” A bunny wheel is nothing more than a mineral salt lick for rabbits and the bees don’t seem to object to this inclusion of rabbit food in their diet.

Rusty

According to one paper, “essential [...]]]> The role that essential oils play in the life of a honey bee colony is complex, fascinating, and not well understood. Beekeepers are just beginning to grasp the potential that these oils may have, and recently a host of scientific papers have delved into various aspects of their chemistry.

According to one paper, “essential oil” is a general term for “liquid, highly volatile plant compounds, characterized by an intensive, characteristic odor” (Imdorf et al. 1999). The essential oils that most people are familiar with are the ones used in food, cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products. These include the oils of lavender, peppermint, pine, clove, spearmint, and citrus. Each oil comprises dozens—sometimes hundreds—of plant chemicals, and it turns out that many of these play an important role in bee health.

The use of essential oils as a feeding supplement first became popular with the manufacture of a commercial mix of spearmint and lemongrass oils called Honey-B-Healthy. The oils are kept in solution with water by the use of an emulsifier so that the product mixes easily with sugar syrup. My personal opinion is that Honey-B-Healthy was a stroke of genius. There is much anecdotal evidence to suggest that the use of Honey-B-Healthy increases overall colony health, and helps bees deal with stress, pathogens, and parasites.

In many ways Honey-B-Healthy seems to act like a vitamin pill for bees—all the phytochemicals in the two oils appear to make up for things that are lacking in the bee’s diet. This is especially important where a naturally varied diet is missing, as is the case on much of our farmland.

After writing a research paper on essential oils and Varroa control, I began experimenting on my own with oils such as tea tree, patchouli, anise, rosemary, and orange. My populations expanded quickly and my bees never seemed healthier. Besides being used as “vitamin pills,” essential oils in various concentrations may be used for many purposes, such as:

• the control of parasitic mites, both tracheal and Varroa
• an aid in the control of Nosema
• an aid in queen introduction
• a mold inhibitor in sugar syrup
• a lure in swarm traps
• a feeding stimulant

For the beginning beekeeper, I would suggest using Honey-B-Healthy in both your spring and fall syrups. Although it is expensive, it seems to increase both the size and health of most colonies. And just for the record, I have no financial interest in Honey-B-Healthy, although I wish I did!

Rusty