Each day, during my morning break at work, I peruse my website to look at the statistics on the traffic that comes through it.  I review my previous blog post for grammatical or spelling errors, I look at the products we are currently offering and try to think of new ones that we can offer which would fall in line with our philosophy and fill a need.  I do this because I am obsessive about the things I care about.  As I was reading over the Priddy Acres page and our products, I had an epiphany.

We have been trying to figure out why, exactly, it is that the Lemongrass version of our fondant is outselling the Peppermint version by around eight or ten to one.  You would think that it would be roughly equal and that, given the season, Peppermint would start to become increasingly popular (and it tastes like those little white and red taffy pieces…ya, I’ve tasted both varieties).  I figured I would take a moment to clarify exactly what each of the essential oils that we use (along with ones we don’t currently offer) do for the hive.

What is an Essential Oil?

The term is actually a derivative of the name “quintessential oil”.  Not that you actually care about that, but it is a fun fact. This name comes from this idea that all living things are composed of the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water) and one additional element.  The last of the elements is coined the “quintessence” and was considered to be what we would consider to be the spirit or heart.  Essential oils are made by using some means of extracting the oil from the plant material and must be done using physical means (distillation, cold pressing, or maceration/distillation) in order to be considered a true essential oil.  The act of distilling it down was thought to remove everything except the spirit of the plant. Another fun fact is that this is the reason distilled alcohols are called “spirits”.

What Do Essential Oils Do?

Bees have been pollinating flowers for a very long time.  Natural chemicals that exist in plants can have many effects on the local flora and fauna.  They can attract, deter, kill, and provide biological defenses against fungus and bacteria.

The reason that Michelle and I chose the two that we have used (Peppermint and Lemongrass) is for two reasons.  First, they are very pleasant to us humans (at least they are to us) and most people are not put off by their smell.  Lets not forget that PEOPLE are buying these things, not bees, so making our product pleasant to your olfactory senses can help with the decision making process.  Second, the African people have used lemongrass to treat their bees for a very long time.  The lemongrass has antifungal properties and most members of the “mint” family (spearmint, peppermint, etc.) have antibacterial properties.  Those two oils together make a one-two punch for pathogens which might cause our bees to die off.  I have heard some apiaries use a few drops in their sugar syrup during the summer months.  Lemongrass also mimics the honey bee attractant pheromone so, in the summer, this can cause issues because it can attract robber bees.  If you are trying to attract a swarm, however, this can be exactly what you are looking for.  The natural attractant property of lemongrass is why we use the peppermint, which masks the pheromone scent that attracts those robbers.  In the winter, this isn’t really a problem as most bees are clustered in the hive and not out foraging. We are thinking about using a fondant slab with one of the mite treatment oils in it through the winter (probably until February) to see if it helps to keep the mite population to a very low level, however, I don’t want the mites to develop an immunity or tolerance to my twice a year mite treatment so I will not be using thyme oil.

There are other oils which we could use and may use if there is enough interest in them.

Spearmint – Spearmint acts much the same way as peppermint so it was really just a preference here.  I generally like peppermint better and when Michelle is cooking this stuff all day, I don’t want my house to smell like spearmint.

Tea Tree – Tea Tree oil is often used as a mite control oil.  Most mite control oils, when used as feed or in some kind of grease slab to kill mites, will make your honey taste terrible so I wouldn’t want to use this in the hive during the summer.  For the fondant patties, since the honey supers will likely be off during the winter, it should be fine.  If the supers are on, don’t use this oil in anything bee related.

Wintergreen – This is pretty much the same as Tea Tree, with regard to its effect on bee hives.

Thyme – This is also used for mite control, so read the Tea Tree description.  Additionally, the chemical compound Thymol is the active ingredient in the commercially available mite killing treatments.  This is the treatment I decided on when I treated my hives this year.

There are a lot of scientifically backed claims of what essential oils do for bee hives.  There is also a lot of anecdotal evidence showing additional benefits of using essential oils in hives.  I tend to look solely at things which can be proven using science, a happy byproduct of getting my first college degree in Zoology and Chemistry, so I wouldn’t bother putting it in if the beneficial claims were only anecdotal.  Additionally, when I look at plant biology I can see, by the research that has been performed over decades, that plants use chemicals for repelling competitors, repelling predators, and attracting those organisms that they have a mutual symbiotic relationship with.  It only makes sense that these chemicals can be extracted and exploited for the benefits they provide to the hive.  I’m not telling you to go out and start buying up all of the essential oils you can get your hands on and dropping a little bit of each into the hive, I’m guessing that would be bad.  I am saying that by carefully analyzing the benefits that each one brings to the table, we can select and use these natural products to enhance the health, quality of life, and overall ecosystem within the hive.