Decoction of wormwood for bees: proportion for preparation and processing rules

Treatment of bees with folk 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. For the preparation of folk medicine, you can use the store collection of herbs. Wormwood (leaves and young shoots) is harvested on its own before the period of its flowering. Dry greens in the shade under awnings. The shelf life of dry blanks is 2 years.

What is wormwood tincture used for bees?

Wormwood tincture is a common folk remedy for the treatment and prevention of varroatosis, nosematosis. The Varroa destructor mite feeds on the blood of bees and larvae. As a result of parasitic damage to the bee colony, the collection of honey is reduced, individuals grow 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 insects and leading to their death.

Preparation of tincture

Beekeepers use several recipes for making medicinal tinctures or decoctions on wormwood. Popular Options:

• for the treatment of nosematosis, sugar syrup and a three-day tincture of crushed leaves or young spring shoots of wormwood are mixed (100 ml of alcohol is poured into 10 g of raw materials). Insects are fed with a sugar sling, to which tincture is added (1 tablespoon of tincture is added to 0.5 l syrup). For medicinal purposes, the syrup is fed 3-4 times, observing an interval of 5-6 days;
• Sometimes folk medicines from herbal mixture are added to sugar syrup.For the prevention of nosematosis, decoctions of wormwood and horse sorrel are used (250 g of each plant is separately heated to a boil in 5 liters of water). To prepare sweet food, 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;
• To fight the varroza mite, a special mixture is used (in 10 liters of water, a mixture of 50 g of bitter wormwood and 50 g of pine buds is boiled for 3 hours). The mixture is infused for 8 hours and filtered. For a 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, it is important to observe the proportions when preparing folk medicines with wormwood.

How to use it?

Means are recommended to be prepared immediately before processing 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, the destruction of biologically active plant components.

It is recommended to feed the bees several times syrup with the addition of wormwood decoction. Because with varroatosis, the parasites infect the printed brood, and with its constant output, young bees will consume medicinal syrup.

As a preventive measure against invasive diseases, sweet syrup with the addition of a herbal medicinal product is fed to bees in autumn. Pre-winter top dressing is done 3-4 times, using 4-5 liters of syrup (the strength of families is taken into account).

The processes of preparing folk remedies for the treatment of bee colonies do not require special skills or devices. There are no contraindications for wormwood, because the product does not contain chemical additives. For preventive purposes, it is advisable to regularly feed syrup with herbal tincture additives to the bees. Thanks to the herbal supplement, an increase in the productivity of the queen bee and stabilization of the digestive system of insects are observed.

Recommended