Honey B Healthy and the use of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate with Essential Oils

[Adrian]

Hello,
I am a new beekeeper and intend on being as organic as possible as I have a small organic farm in NC. This product Honey B Healthy is being pushed in my area and I notice it has sodium Lauryl Sulfate in it as an emulsifier. The lecithin crystals in it should be enough of an emulsifier which is a natural product so I really do not know why it is added. But, I read a review where one beekeeper thought it killed her hives.

Also, if I feed honey mixed with some essential oils, water and lecithin crystals as an emulsifier, does anyone know about using essential oils other that just spearmint and lemongrass? Has anyone used thyme and/or peppermint oil? How about pure lavender? Has anyone sprayed comb foundation with this to encourage bees and reduce mites?

Any information, positive or negative is welcome.

Thank you.

[The Bix]

Adrian,

I am certainly no expert on the subject and have only been keeping bees since 2009 so please keep that in mind.  However, I have not used any chemical treatments (unless you consider HBH and essential oils to be "chemical treatments").  I have used thyme oil (added it to the HBH most of last season) and I have begun making my own version of HBH with a formula I received from a local commercial beekeeper.  His claim after using his process and formula is a negligible problem with mites.  Thyme oil as he has explained to me, kills mites on contact.  So in addition to putting thyme oil in the feed, he also sprays down the bees with the 1:1 feed (which contains spearmint, lemongrass and thyme oils), frame by frame on a warm day.  Again, I'm no expert, just going on the advice of someone in my area with far more experience.  I have not done an alcohol wash or mite drop count to figure out what my mite situation is, but I do know I've not lost a hive due to mites.

I hope this helps.

--John

[Adrian]

John,
Thanks so much. I am also going to make up my own solution to add to feed that contains the thyme oil. I thought thyme would be great because of how it kills viruses so easily and has a heating element to it. I purchased the Honey B Healthy and then noticed on the bottle the presence of  Sodium Lauryl Sulfate on the ingredients label. I don't think it is necessary if one uses  lecithin crystals as an emulsifier.

Thanks for your response....you have encouraged me!