Treatment of bees with traditional methods and organic preparations is gaining wide popularity. A decoction of wormwood for bees is used when adults, drones and queens are affected by invasive diseases. To prepare folk medicine, you can use store-bought herbs. Wormwood (leaves and young shoots) is harvested on its own before its flowering period. Dry greens in the shade under awnings. The shelf life of dry preparations is 2 years.
Why is wormwood tincture used for bees?
Wormwood tincture is a common folk remedy for the treatment and prevention of varroatosis and nosematosis. The Varroa destructor mite feeds on the blood of bees and larvae. Due to parasite damage to the bee colony, honey collection is reduced, and individuals grow up defective.
The causative agent of nosematosis is Microsporidia nosema, which develops in the midgut of bees. The disease manifests itself in the form of severe diarrhea, weakening the insects and leading to their death.
Preparing the tincture
Beekeepers use several recipes for preparing medicinal tinctures or decoctions of wormwood. Popular options:
- To treat nosematosis, mix sugar syrup and a three-day tincture of crushed leaves or young spring shoots of wormwood (100 ml of alcohol is poured into 10 g of raw material). The insects are fed a sugar sling to which tincture has been added (1 tablespoon of tincture is added to 0.5 liter syrup). For medicinal purposes, the syrup is fed 3-4 times, maintaining an interval of 5-6 days;
- Sometimes folk medicines from a herbal mixture are added to sugar syrup. To prevent nosematosis, decoctions of wormwood and horse sorrel are used (250 g of each plant are separately heated to a boil in 5 liters of water). To prepare sweet complementary foods, mix 1.5 liters of water and 2 kg of sugar, then add 0.5 liters of liquid with horse sorrel and 1.5-2 tbsp. spoons of wormwood remedy;
- To combat varrosa mites, a special mixture is used (a mixture of 50 g of wormwood and 50 g of pine buds is boiled in 10 liters of water for 3 hours). The mixture is infused for 8 hours and filtered. Per liter of sugar syrup (sand/water in a ratio of 1.5:1) add 35 ml of the infused mixture.
To ensure a therapeutic effect, when preparing folk medicines with wormwood, it is important to maintain proportions.
How to use it?
It is recommended to prepare the products immediately before treating insects. It is not advisable to store the prepared product for a long time, because the medicinal qualities are lost due to the evaporation of essential oils and the destruction of biologically active plant components.
It is recommended to feed the bees syrup with the addition of wormwood infusion several times. Because with varroa disease, parasites infect the printed brood, and with its constant release, young bees will consume medicinal syrup.
For preventive purposes to combat invasive diseases, sweet syrup with the addition of a herbal medicinal product is fed to bees in the fall. Pre-winter feeding is done 3-4 times, using 4-5 liters of syrup (the strength of the families is taken into account).
