Emulsified Thymol

Thymol - normal mix

I am not in a position to recommend the emulsified potion, but it is interesting. The original recipe is 30g of thymol crystals dissolved in 150 surgical spirits (chiefly a mixture of ethanol and methanol) or rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol). I can find no evidence that either of these contain toxic contaminants. The stock solution will keep indefinitely. Thymol is great for preserving sugar solution. There is an argument for emulsifying the thymol (so that it is thoroughly mixed in the syrup). So if your bees have nosema or you like complicated, try this. As posted by Hivemaker on Beekeeping forum 1/04/2010

“The problem with the above mixture is that the oil floats on top of the syrup. Some of it is in the entire mix, but not in an equal suspension, so therefore, it is not being stored in the combs as I would like it, and I believe it is more effective if emulsified.
If you wish to carry out your own test, add 10ml to a bucket containing 2 gallons of syrup, allow it to settle, then with a thin tube, syphon some syrup from the bottom of the bucket into a clean cup, then take some syrup from the top of the bucket into another cup....then smell the difference....taste it..see which one gets you spitting for a few minutes.”

Making and using emulsified thymol pre-mix.

“30g thymol crystals placed in honey jar, add 5ml of isopropyl alcohol to the crystals. Place the jar into a water bath of boiling water to speed up the dissolving process.

In another jar, pour in 140 ml of boiling water and add 1 teaspoon of lecithin granules, stir well, and place this jar into a water bath of boiling water, stirring often for about ten minutes or so until most of the lecithin granules have dissolved,

Strain this mixture through a tea strainer or similar to remove any granules that have not dissolved fully, then simply add the dissolved thymol to this mix, and shake well, it will look just like a jar of milk.

To use, add 5ml to each gallon of syrup and stir well. The syrup will go milky, unlike when using the old original mix.

If the mixture forms any crystals at a later date, tip into an old small pan and reheat. Do this outdoors.

What works well is to add 12.5 grams of thymol crystals to 88ml of 91% isopropyl alcohol (total volume = 100ml). (Isopropyl also comes as 70 and 99.0% strength)

30g Thymol crystals with 5 ml Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol which comes as 140ml boiling water + 1 Teaspoon Lecithin dissolved and added together to form milky white ‘liquid’. (Warm the solution if it sets hard in future).

“In the past, I have occasionally added two teaspoons of the original mix 10ml per gallon with no ill effects on the bees, but 5ml is plenty.

Last autumn, every full-size colony and nuc was fed down with thymolated syrup. This spring, I have not found any signs of nosema in any colony, even weaker ones and even in the ones that previously had very heavy nosema and had no comb changes. These colonies are boiling over with bees, and many have had second brood chambers added. Some were overwintered on double broods and are incredibly strong; some will have two nucs taken from each one soon. Also, as a slight side note, I have detected no varroa mites in most hives, very few in some, and no oxalic used at all; it reminds me of pre-2002 when I always fed thymolated syrup.”