Menthol Mite Treatment

1): Measure and mix components:

• Place two standard packs of menthol crystals (3.4 ozs. or 100 grams) in an 8 oz. (118.3 cc) measuring cup, then add canola oil to fill.
• Microwave for 4 mins. at 50% power.
• Check to see that all crystals dissolved--if not, microwave for an additional minute at 50% power.
• Must be used while warm otherwise crystals will reform.

2): Add to paper towels:

• Remove 30 paper towels from one roll; fold in half and stack.
• Put stack of paper towels into a large zip-lock bag and add 1 cup of warm menthol-canola.
• Zip the bag shut then squeeze the towels in the bag until all towels are evenly saturated.
• If one end of towels are somewhat dry, turn the bag sideways putting dry end down--in about 10 minutes, all will be evenly saturated. Thus, one cup of menthol-canola mix will treat 30 paper towels--using 2 towels per colony, this will treat 15 colonies.
• Towels can be stored at room temperature indefinitely if the bag is zipped closed.

3): Add to colonies:

• Do not add to colonies while a honey flow is on.
• Place one paper towel over the top bars of each brood chamber.
• Best time to treat is September. (Tracheal mites are usually not a problem from May to September, so no menthol needs to be used until the time that mites begin to build up in late August or September).
• Colonies can be treated anytime during the winter when temperatures rise above about 45 F.
• We recommend this treatment whenever tracheal mites are found; additional treatments can be made in December, January and February.
• The bees will chew up the paper towels and discard them at the entrance in 3-4 days (or longer in winter).
• This mix caused no harm to our bees but definitely reduced or eliminated the tracheal mites.

Don Jackson's Shop Towel technique:

• A very similar technique was published in the February issue of the American Bee Journal by Don Jackson (Jackson, Don. 1997.
• Tracheal mites, menthol, and shop towels. Amer. Bee J. 137(2):138-139).
• He used a 50-50 mix of canola and menthol, heated on a stove, and then cut rolls of shop towels in half and dipped them into the pan to saturate with the mix.

Jim Amrine, Terry Stasny, & Robert Skidmore

West Virginia University Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, P. O. Box 6108, West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 26505-6108 USA

Telephone: 304-293-6023 Fax: 304-293-2960

E-mail: jamrine@wvnvm.wvnet.edu

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