CALM-VET – Smoker Alternative

01 · WHAT IT DOES AND DOESN'T

It masks the scent, it does not fill the crop

The essential oils work on the bee's sense of smell and mask the alarm pheromones, which is half of what smoke does. The other half — the reflex to load up on honey — it does not reproduce.

The maker states a calming effect of 10 to 20 minutes, ample for a routine inspection, and warns that it depends on colony strength, ventilation and temperature: above 30 °C it lasts less.

02 · THE DOSE AND THE MIST

3 ml per litre, and the sprayer matters

Shake the bottle, mix 3 ml per litre of water and spray the entrance and the bees 2-3 minutes before opening, repeating as you uncover the frames. It works out at 50 to 100 ml of solution per hive, depending on how many frames are occupied.

The detail that decides the result is the equipment: it has to produce a fine mist. With a coarse jet sprayer it does not work the same. On large apiaries a knapsack sprayer will do, always with a mist nozzle.

03 · THE LIMITS

They get used to it, and more is not better

If the inspection runs long you can reapply, but it is worth knowing that the effectiveness drops with consecutive applications: the bees get used to the scent.

And there is a ceiling that does not move: never exceed twice the recommended dose. Essential oils in excess can be toxic, and here more product is not more calm.

04 · THE ARITHMETIC

A 200 ml bottle makes 66 litres

At 3 ml per litre, the 200 ml bottle makes about 66 litres of solution. At 100 ml a hive that is more than 600 inspections, so the cost per hive is almost nothing.

What you should not do is mix too much: the made-up solution keeps 3 days at room temperature (15-25 °C). Make the day's worth and no more.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It is a complementary feed, not a veterinary product: you buy it to work more calmly, not to treat anything.