Searching for Thymol recepies.

Home Made Apiguard (Thymol base anti-varroa component)

Source: http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=20371

I don't accept responsibility for these recipes, Thymol is a complicated chemical because varroa and honey bees have a similar level of tolerance what complicates its effectiveness and Thymol strength is dependent of temperature so quantities can have diverse effects according to the climate where it is used.

Important:  Handle Thymol with care - avoid skin contact using globes and eye contact using glasses, don't mix the components in a windy place or in poorly ventilated room, don't leave it at the reach of children or in unlabeled jars. Don't apply the Thymol if you have the suppers on. If you treat with Thymol you risk to harvest Listerine honey, what saves you money in mouthwash but might put your friends off your honey so before you set the suppers, uncap the honey stores of the brood chamber so the bees move the stores to the supper chamber (in national and half hives), after set the suppers for harvesting. I tend to leave a supper of food for the bees so I normally harvest the top supper only and I avoid this way possible contamination of thymol in the honey.

Method 1. Diluted in Surgical Spirit - very quick evaporation - kills some bees so better to apply it in the evenings.

Basic formula: 2 Parts Thymol / 1 Part Surgical Spirit. Thymol doesn't dissolve in water but it does in Isopranol/Alcohol/Surgical Spirit. It doesn't matter the amount of Surgical Spirit you use, just enough to dilute the Thymol. What its really important is not to put more than 8 grams of Thymol per hive. If you do a solution too weak you can always repeat it later and to adjust the recipe according to your own experience and local weather conditions but if you do the solution to strong (if you put to many grams of Thymol in the hive diluted in spirit) you are going to cause a serious damage to your hive. After an overdose the bees get suffocated, the thorax turns white and you find them outside the hive dead or really weak. There are people out there advising to set the Thymol on the top of the brood frames, however, I prefer so set the Thymol clothe on the top of the supper (in national a a half) , over the  queen excluder.

Overdose can kill bees in excess so it is important to be precise with measurements. You can purchase a precise scale in Ebay for 7 pounds.

Recipe for 1 hive:  8 grams Thymol + 16 ml Surgical Spirit. Get the Thymol well diluted so if you need to add more spirit do, as long as you don't put more than 8 grams per hive.

Procedure: Dissolve the Thymol in the Surgical Spirit and use syringe to get 8 ml in a kitchen towel, use 2 towel per hive.

Application: Every 14 days until the varroa mite drop come to normal for the period of year.

Precaution: Use this treatment with mild temperatures. 





Source: http://hertsbees.blogspot.co.uk/2007/07/thymol-varroa-treatment.html

Method 2.

Ingredients for 1 hive: 
No more than 8 grams Thymol crystals.
20 grams of vegitable oil.
60 grams of sugar

You can add adjust those measurements as long as you don't increase the grams of Thymol per hive, the aim is to create a sticky paste of sugar and oil.

Put the sugar in coffee beans processor to make it more thin and after put it into a freezer plastic bag container , after, thoroughly mix in the Thymol crystals with the sugar until all lumps of the Thymol are broken down. Because you can zip the plastic bag you avoid to get intoxicated. Add the sugar/Thymol mixture to a jar with the oil and mix thoroughly until the mixture is the consistency of a paste.

Usage
Cut a square of thick plastic and fix it to the top of the frames with a pushpin or similar, spread the solution on the plastic. Refresh the mixture very 14 days.