Subject: Essential Oils update

From: [email-masked] (Andy Nachbaur)
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 03:40:00 GMT

*FYI* FROM THE BEE-LIST GROUP.

From: "Steven A. Creasy" <[email-masked]>
Wed, 11 Sep 1996 19:49:14 PST
Subject:      Essential Oils update

I received the following from Mr. Amerine at U of WV.  I hope it will be
of interest...
Forwarded message follows::

Dear Steve,

There is practically no difference between natural and synthetic
wintergreen. The natural oil is 99% the same as the synthetic. We have
tried both, and both are equally effective; other beekeepers have
corroborated this.

I am attaching a file that is the basis of our web page. I hope it is
useful to you.

File:

Preliminary Results of Research
Varroa Mite Control, 1996
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/varroa.htm

(Update: September 10, 1996). We are going to update this web page about
monthly as we learn more from our experiments and as we receive results from
other beekeepers. This page is designed for beekeepers; for those needing
help with terminology, please see Graham, J. 1992. The Hive and the Honey
Bee, Dadant & Sons, Hamilton IL, 1324 pp.

Eradication possible?  We believe that during the late fall and early
winter the varroa mite is very susceptible to control by essential oils.
By treating hives with the grease patties containing wintergreen, tea
tree or patchouli oils, and making sure the treatment is near the
cluster, then the varroa mites will have no place to hide and all can be
killed. (No brood cells will be available as shelters.) Because most of
the country has lost feral colonies, and only careful beekeepers now
have bees, a concerted effort by all beekeepers at this time may achieve
eradication of the varroa mite.  We are not as sure about tracheal
mite--(there are so few around this area that we can not find a
sufficient infestation to test), but it, too, may be susceptible to
winter treatment with grease patties. Perhaps adding menthol to the
grease patties may be lethal to them as well. This critical opportunity
in beekeeping may not come around again for some time to come: our
scenario is that with the feral colonies gone, many new colonies will be
established in the next few years which will have  light infestations of
mites; swarms will issue from these and begin to reestablish a feral
population--containing at first a few varroa mites. In a few seasons these
will increase and another epidemic of fatal varroa mite + PMS will occur.
As the new feral colonies increase, it will become impossible to find
them and to eradicate their varroa mites. That is why now is such a
special opportunity.

Summary of Treatments:

We have refined our experimental treatments as follows:

1). Syrup: 25 drops (1 cc) of wintergreen or spearmint added to two cups
(about one pound or 453.6 grams) of sugar in a quart jar (0.95 liter);
hot water added to fill jar.  Be sure to add the oil to the granulated
sugar then add the very warm water (not too hot or else the oils will
evaporate).

Feed the bees as much syrup as they will take. We have had good results
with wintergreen, spearmint, and peppermint oils.

2). Grease patties: are made with four cups of granulated sugar, two cups
of shortening and one of the following: 21 cc of wintergreen oil or 21
cc of patchouli oil or 21 cc or tea tree oil or 11.5 cc of each of two
oils (eg., wintergreen + patchouli). (This rate is 1/4 oz. of essential
oils per pound of sugar and grease). The components are thoroughly mixed
(wear gloves or use a large spoon, as wintergreen oil in such
concentrations may be toxic; patchouli oil is not toxic). The mixture is
then made up into 4 ounce patties (like a small, 3.5" hamburger) which
are divided and  placed on top of each brood box (about one half pound
or 8 ozs. of grease patties per hive; one batch treats 5.8 hives). We
plan to make patties this fall that also contain terramycin (TM25) to
determine whether medications can be combined for both mites and foul
brood.

3). Tracking strips: are made by cutting sheets or pieces of 1/8 in.
plexiglass into strips 3" wide by 14" long  (7.5 cm by 35.5 cm ), and
used as a base for holding a treated slurry containing essential oil.
The slurry is made as follows: 17.5 ozs. (2 and 1/5 cups) of canola oil
are mixed with 6.5 ozs. (slightly more than 4/5 cup) of melted beeswax,
stirred and set on a hot plate. To this liquid add 24 cc's of
wintergreen oil (or 24 cc's of patchouli oil or 12 cc's of each ). Stir
well and pour into three  8 oz. plastic cups. When cooled, the slurry
has a shoe-polish or salve-like consistency. Then, 2 to 3 teaspoons of
the slurry are applied to the tracking strip which is placed lengthwise
just inside the front entrance of each colony. The bees must track
through this slurry when they enter or exit the hive; they then clean
off the slurry by eating it and feeding it to each other. Treatments are
repeated after 5 days: the old slurry, dead mites and dead, deformed
bees are scraped off and new slurry added. Plexiglass is used for
tracking strips because it has a very smooth finish allowing an even
coverage and it is too hard for the bees to chew up or remove; masonite
or other similar material could be used just as well.

4). Paper inserts at top of hive: For control of varroa mite on displaced
nurse bees (see below).  Use 2 cups of canola oil containing 11 cc's of
wintergreen; put some in a honey bear (as a squeeze bottle) and apply 6
lines of wintergreen oil in both directions on a paper towel so that the
towel is saturated.  The bees chew it up and remove it in a week or so.
You should replace it as needed to treat the varroa mites trying to
avoid the other treatments.

Varroa Mite Assessment: You can place a sticky board on the bottom of the
hive in combination with both patties and a tracking strip to obtain a
good count of varroa mites within 24 to 48 hours: in our tests the
essential oils killed more mites than Apistan.

We use the essential oils throughout the year, either feeding syrup (when
nectar is not coming in), using patties (pretty much year around, but
bees do not use the patties as much during honey flows), and using the
tracking strips, which are especially useful during the honey flows.

We have found in recent months:

When nectar flows are coming in, the bees tend to ignore the syrup and
the grease patties and the number of reproducing mites increase; that is
why Bob developed the tracking strip, to insure that varroa mites are
treated. When tracking strips are used, the varroa mites will enter
cells being capped in order to escape the essential oils; drone cells
are preferred.

Grease patties containing spearmint oil were propolized, but not those
patties made with wintergreen, tea tree or patchouli oils.

We recently found that the varroa mites were able to escape treatment
despite using both tracking strips and grease patties (or tracking strips
and syrup). We found that displaced nurse bees which gather under the inner
cover were used as a hiding place by the mites. We treated this group of
mites by putting a piece of paper towel treated with canola oil +
wintergreen just under the inner cover. We used 2 cups of canola oil
containing 11 cc's of wintergreen; put some in a honey bear (as a squeeze
bottle) and applied 6 lines of wintergreen oil in both directions on the
towel so that the towel was saturated.  The bees chewed it up and removed
it in a week or so. You should replace it as needed to treat the varroa
mites trying to avoid the other treatments.

Queens: A potential problem may be that queens on mating flights may have
their pheromone masked or may become somewhat disoriented by the
essential oils. We recommend that the treatments be removed from the
hives when queen rearing and mating is taking place.

Drones: We found that large numbers of drone cells provide protection to
the varroa mites and are definitely the source of most breeding varroa
mites. Consequently, we recommend that the amount of available drone
cells be kept to a mininmum; be sure to remove and replace old comb
containing lots of irregular drone cells. (See the literature for
techniques using periodic drone removal to reduce varroa mites).

Large colonies: When hives have many supers, the treatment for the varroa
mites is "diluted". So, remove and extract honey supers and reduce the
hives to two chambers or to one and a half chambers as soon as possible;
in this way, the treatment will be more effective.

Note about tracheal mite: We checked Bob's colonies for tracheal mite by
collecting older foragers: those that have frayed wings and a bald
thorax.

We removed their heads and first pair of legs and examined the tracheae
visible inside the cavity where the legs were (peel off the "collar" with
forceps); infested tracheae could be seen with a hand lens and were dark
spotted or uniformly dark. Results: in control colonies (no treatments)
30% had tracheal mites; in treated colonies, 10% had tracheal mites.
Since bees are able to drift considerable distances, we suspect that
some of those in our treated colonies may have come in from other,
declining feral colonies in the neighborhood (a few feral colonies still
remain near Cumberland, but these should be gone soon). The older bees
give a more reliable test for the presence and extent of infestation by
tracheal mite.

Original page (Prepared July 1996, published in the Amer. Bee Journal,
September, 1996.):

In our opinion, Bob Noel, Beekeeper in Cumberland Maryland,  has
discovered an effective and economical control for varroa mite (Varroa
jacobsoni Oudemans (Acari: Varroidae)) and probably also for tracheal
mite (Acarapis woodi (Rennie) (Acari: Tarsonemidae)).

The following is a brief account of our work and preliminary findings
during the past 14 months.

In summer and fall of 1995, Bob fed syrups containing essential oils1 to
his bees, specifically wintergreen oil and spearmint oil. He added 10 to
20 drops (1/2 to 1 cc, respectively) of the oils to 453.6 grams (one
pound) of sugar in a 0.95 liter (1 quart)  jar, and hot water was added
to fill the jar. This syrup was then fed to the bees at the entrance
using a standard boardman feeder. He applied the two syrups to 14 hives
as follows: spearmint oil to 5 colonies and wintergreen to 9 colonies
beginning in July and continuing until October. In July, 1995, many of
his colonies were heavily infested with varroa mite displayed typical
PMS (parasitic mite syndrome): they were suffering from mite viruses,
such as ABPV, CBPV, Kashmir Virus and from sacbrood which was quite
heavy, and the brood pattern was scattered and incomplete, very similar
to American foul brood (AFB) (however, none of the colonies had AFB).
Many of the emerging workers were small with shriveled wings and very
small abdomens. Two of the colonies were so weak in July that wax moths
were attacking comb and brood. Syrups were given ad lib and topped up
daily. Bob assayed varroa mite populations by opening sealed brood
cells, both drone and worker, by observing emerging brood and by
directly observing varroa mite behavior.

Results: after using treated syrups for three weeks, Bob noticed improved
brood patterns, healthier bees, and reduced mite populations. After 30
days of treatment (we inspected the colonies in August, 1995) varroa
mites were definitely in decline and the bees were considerably
recovered from PMS. We observed numerous varroa mites and PMS in control
(untreated) colonies. On 21 September, we thoroughly inspected several
hives; those that were treated with syrups were virtually free of varroa
mite, whereas untreated control colonies in the area were heavily
attacked by varroa mite, had typical PMS, and were beginning to die off.

In November 1995, Bob found that two of his bee yards (Oldtown, MD and
Kifer, MD) which were free of varroa mites in July and August, were
heavily infested with varroa mites (2-3 mites per adult bee). We believe
that workers from collapsing feral colonies had joined with these
colonies bringing in enormous numbers of varroa mites. Bob treated some
colonies with apistan strips and grease patties (without essential oils)
and others with grease patties containing the following: four cups of
granulated sugar, two cups of shortening and 4.8 cc's of wintergreen
oil. This mixture was made into 8 oz patties and placed one per colony
above the cluster. The following spring and early summer only a trace of
varroa mite could be found in the hives treated with the grease patties
containing wintergreen oil; several of the colonies treated only with
apistan and standard grease patties died out.

In May 1996, Bob devised the tracking strip method of varroa mite control:
strips of 1/8 in. plexiglass, 7.5 cm by 35.5 cm (3" by 14"), were used as
a support for a slurry made as follows: 4 parts mineral oil mixed with
1.5 parts melted beeswax; this liquid was then poured into 4 oz. baby
food jars to which 2 cc's of patchouli oil and 2 cc's of wintergreen oil
were added. Then =BD to 3 teaspoons of the slurry were applied to the
each tracking strip with fingers, which were placed lengthwise just
inside the front entrance of each colony. He began these treatments
early in May. The day after strips were applied, dead varroa mites were
found on the tracking strips--several dead mites per colony.

Bob's associate, Harry Mallow (a beekeeper for 30 years, former Maryland
bee inspector, and former president of the Maryland State Beekeepers
Association) treated one hive (his last surviving colony at beeyard No.
2) with the tracking strip on 31 May, 1996 (double the dose of patchouli
and wintergreen oils; i.e., 4 cc of each oil in 4 ozs. of the slurry).
On June 1st, both Harry and Bob observed several 100's of dead varroa
mites at the entrance, on and around the strip. They returned on June
2nd to videotape the dead mites--most had been carried off  by ants, but
several dozen dead mites still remained at the entrance. Amrine
inspected this colony on 6 June, 1996, and found very few live varroa
mites on workers in the hive (two were seen on 1000's of bees examined).
About 100 sealed drone cells were examined; several recently capped
drone cells contained 18 to 25 highly aggitated varroa mites--they ran
around the larva or pupa very rapidly and ran quickly onto and over the
combs. It appears that at the time of treatment they entered nearly
capped drone cells as if they were "bomb shelters" to avoid the tracking
material. The older capped drone cells (with colored pupae and capped
before the treatment) contained normal numbers of normally developing
varroa mites.

On June 6, 1996, Amrine inspected 12 of Bob Noel's colonies, in three bee
yards, and collected all varroa mites that could be found. About 100
sealed drone cells and several worker cells were opened in each colony.
Four sealed drone cells were found infested with varroa at his "Rick's"
bee yard in Cumberland, MD: two in colony number 4, treated with a
tracking strip containing the mineral oil-beeswax slurry and 4 cc of
patchouli oil in a baby food jar (4 oz); and one each in colonies 2 and
3 which were treated with the same slurry containing 2 cc of wintergreen
oil and 2 cc of patchouli oil (in 4 oz.). Varroa mites were not found in
hive number 1 (same treatment as hives 2 and 3). We regard these numbers
as a trace infestation of varroa mites. (The same colonies were
inspected by Maryland bee inspector Dave Thomas, who reported no live
varroa mites on 18 May, 1996). No deformed bees were found; there were
12 to 14 frames of brood in each colony which were the best looking
colonies we have seen in the last three years.

Inspection of the Kifer, MD bee yard resulted in finding only two sealed
drone cells with varroa mites (one each) out of 100 drone cells examined
(hive number 3). This hive had been treated only with grease patty +
wintergreen oil in November 1995, and a tracking strip (slurry made from 4
parts canola oil + 1.5 parts melted beeswax and 2 cc of patchouli oil)
was added 30 May 1996. The colonies had two or three mites per adult bee
in November, 1995.

Inspection of the Oldtown, MD, bee yard resulted in finding 3 sealed drone
cells containing varroa mites out of 100 cells examined in each of two
colonies. These had been treated with grease patties containing wintergreen
oil in November 1995, and had received no other treatment. In November, the
colonies had two or three varroa mites per adult bee.

Conclusions:

Bob Noel's experiments from July 1995 to the present have demonstrated
that essential oils in sugar syrup, grease patties and tracking strips
are able to greatly reduce populations of varroa mites in bee colonies.
1) Spearmint oil at the rate of BD to 1 cc per quart of syrup (1# of
sugar) had the best results when fed in July through October;
wintergreen oil was less effective, but still highly effective, in these
experiments. 2) Grease patties containing 4.8 cc's of wintergreen oil
were very effective from November until April in reducing and nearly
eliminating varroa mites in heavily infested colonies treated in
November. 3) Tracking strips containing 2cc of patchouli oil and 2 cc of
wintergreen oil (or 4 cc of patchouli oil) are very effective in
controlling varroa mites during spring build up. 4) In all cases of
successful treatments, the essential oils were delivered to the brood
nest of the treated colonies. The importance of this last observation
can not be overemphasized. Two experiments of ours support the importance
of this point.

 First, Harry Mallow began sugar syrup treatment of 16 colonies at his
bee yard No. 1 in September, 1995. He treated 8 colonies with syrup and
essential oils only (4 with 15 drops of wintergreen oil per pound of
sugar, and 4 with 15 drops of spearmint oil); the cans were placed at
the top of the colonies (in contrast to boardman feeders placed at the
entrance by Bob Noel). [Nurse bees and foragers collect nectar from a
boardman feeder and the syrup and essential oils go to the brood;
feeders at the top of a hive do not usually deliver syrups or food
directly to the brood nest.] Four more of his colonies were given
wintergreen syrup + apistan strips and the last four colonies were given
untreated syrup as controls. Only the four colonies with wintergreen
syrup + apistan survived. These colonies were treated too late and the
syrup was fed in the wrong location: at the top of the colony instead of
the entrance.

Second, Harry also treated one colony located in his beeyard No. 3 in
April of 1996 with canola oil + wintergreen oil (4 cc of wintergreen in
4 ozs. of canola); a folded  paper towel with canola + wintergreen was
laid on a queen excluder above the cluster. He got a good kill of varroa
mites (many were found dead on the bottom board). He continued this
treatment for several weeks. We inspected the colony on 6 June, 1996: a
paper towel with canola oil was on top of a queen excluder at the top of
the colony (1 and =BD= story); it had not been touched by the bees (in
contrast, the original paper towel was shredded by the bees in April).
[After April, the bees have little reason to go to the upper part of the
hive and will not be affected by treatments placed there.] About 100
sealed brood cells (mostly drone) were examined  in this colony; about
1/4 of the drone cells contained normally developing varroa mites.
Obviously, this treatment, though effective in April when the cluster
was near the top of the upper super, was no longer working. Thus the
presence of the essential oils in the top of the hive was insufficient
to cause reduction of varroa mite. This probably explains some of the
negative reports we have read or heard from other researchers using
essential oils--they apparently did not deliver the oils to the brood nest
in a way that nurse bees and foraging bees would be treated; thus the
tracking board at the entrance is highly effective, the syrup fed by
boardman feeder is highly effective, and treated grease patties above the
fall and winter cluster proved highly effective. The treatments must be
delivered to the brood nest--in such a way that nurse bees and foraging
bees are treated.

Proposed mechanisms of action:

Our observations of Bob Noel's experiments in 1995 and 1996 indicate the
following mechanisms are probably at work in controlling varroa mites:

1)  Direct toxicity: The grease patties and tracking strips indicate that
the essential oils are able to kill varroa mites by direct contact,
within 24 hours or less. Honey bees are  not harmed by these oils at the
rates used; honey has not been found to be contaminated by any of the
treatments used to date (taste test). The evidence to date is strong
enough to prove that this is definitely a mechanism of varroa mite
control; however, no case has been observed where direct toxicity has
totally elliminated the mites. For now, it can only be regarded as a
partial control and effective only at time of treatment and for several
days following.

2) Sensory disruption: it seems that the essential oils from grease
patties and tracking strips are able to mask the normal chemosensory
receptors on the tarsi and mouthparts of varroa mites, disrupting the
mite's ability to function normally. As a result, they are not able to
properly invade larval cells about to be capped, nor do they seem to be
able to properly insert themselves under the sternites of worker bees
and feed on bee hemolymph. They may not be able to recognize adults and
mature larvae of honey bees because of the presence of the grease + oils
on the mites' cuticle and sensory receptors. This mechanism is
hypothetical and is supported indirectly by observations of behavior of
varroa mites in treated colonies by Bob Noel, Harry Mallow and us.

3)  Reproductive disruption: it is apparent that varroa mites in all
three methods of treatments are not able to reproduce normally.
Examination of cells at or near the time of emergence of bees and mites
>from  mite-infested cells in treated colonies show that few newly
developed females are found; many cells have been found containing dead
immature mites and single females that never reproduced (so-called
nonreproducing or sterile females). We conclude that the essential oils
are able to disrupt the reproductive mechanism of the varroa mite.=20

It is known that under natural, untreated conditions, the female varroa
mite, after feeding on a larva in a sealed cell for 1-2 days, normally
becomes "gravid"--she appears swollen and the cuticular membrane between
the sternal and genital plates becomes stretched and evident as white
borders around the plates. The so-called "eggs" deposited by the female
are in reality immature mites that are ready to emerge as protonymphs,
the embryonic and larval stages having been completed within the chorion
inside the body of the female. Thus, the female is converting the blood
of the bee larva and/or pupa into nutrients for each developing immature
mite. This part of the varroa's development is viewed by us as its
weakest point, the so-called "Achilles' Heel" of the varroa mite, and
appears to be the major target of  action of the essential oils. The
oils may be disrupting enzyme systems used to convert bee blood
nutrients into nutrients for the developing immature mites and so the
females are not able to produce "eggs". Also, after hatching, very few
of the mites in treated colonies were able to complete development by
the time the bee emerged from the cell.

These mechanisms help explain observations given to us by several beekeepers
where  honey bee colonies were located in regions with blooming plants
rich with essential oils, such as mints, melaleucas, eucalypts, etc.,
and which were often found to be free of, or not harmed by,  varroa
mites. We presume that the bees foraged on flowers of the plants, or on
the resins of the plants for propolis, and returned to their colonies
with these nectars or resins containing essential oils. Appartently,
enough of the essential oils reached the brood cells so that the
development of the varroa mites was disrupted in the colonies. This
probably explains the failure of varroa mites to develop in many
tropical regions, such as Brazil: the large variety of native flora
apparently produce essential oils in nectar, pollen or propolis to the
extent that normal reproduction of the mites is impaired.

We believe that these essential oils, which were originally produced by
the host plants in order to kill, repel or prevent arthropod attack, are
a very natural means of mite control. Honey bees are not affected by the
essential oils, especially those from Lamiaceae (the mint family),
because of concurrent evolution of the bees with these flowering plants
and their essential oils; the bees long ago developed techniques to
avoid, or counteract, the toxicity of the essential oils. However, the
varroa mites, which were originally on Apis cerana in South and East
Asia, apparently are susceptible to the essential oils. An important
question is whether varroa mites will be able to evolve resistance to
the essential oils; only time will tell. However, there are so many
essential oils available, that if resistance to one appears, another oil
may be substituted; the only real fear is whether varroa mite may
eventually develop resistance to the entire class of essential oils.

Our future research will be directed toward 1) finding an essential oil
treatment that will totally erradicate varroa mites from hives; 2) providing
evidence to elucidate and document the mechanism(s) by which varroa mites
are controlled by essential oils; 3) testing the oils at increased levels
to determine toxicity levels to honey bees; 4) testing honey and beeswax
harvested from treated hives for the presence of residues of essential
oils.

We encourage other beekeepers to conduct research similar to ours in
order to help find a way to eliminate bee mites. Please let us know if
you have had similar results. Our interests in this project are strictly
non-profit and for the benefit of the honey bee industry and beekeeping
in general.

Respectfully submitted,

James W. Amrine, Jr., Terry A. Stasny, and Robert Skidmore
West Virginia University

We can be reached at the following mailing addresses:

Robert C. Noel, Teacher, Fort Hill High School
   Computer Science and School Coordinator
108 Blackiston Ave.
Cumberland, MD 21502
Telephone: 301-724-3529

Harry A. Mallow, Former Regional Bee Inspector, Allegheny & Garrett Cos.
Md. Dept of Agric. (under John Lindner) 11914 Valley Rd. NE Cumberland,
MD 21502=20 Telephone: 301-724-2191

James W. Amrine, Jr.2 (Professor),  Terry A. Stasny 2 (Research Acarologist)
and Robert Skidmore (Apiculture graduate student) Division of Plant
and Soil Sciences, P. O. Box 6108, West Virginia University Morgantown,
WV 26505-6108 Telephone: 304-293-6023;  E-mail: [email-masked]

1 For a source of essential oils, we recommend Lorann Oils, 4518 Aurelius
Road, P. O. Box 22009, Lansing, MI 48909-2009. Toll free number is
1-800-248-1302. Fax number is 517-882-0507. Lorann Oils will send
catalogs to callers and will sell essential oils at wholesale prices to
beekeepers (callers must identifiy themselves as beekeepers) in
quantities from 1 oz. to 1 gallon. Beekeepers needing larger quantities
should call for special pricing.

2 Amrine has been teaching beekeeping at WVU since 1978, is past
president of the Eastern Apiculture Society (1982) and is current
president of the Morgantown Area Beekeepers Association; Stasny is
founder of the Morgantown Area Beekeepers Association (1977), and has
been a beekeeper for 30 years; Skidmore was a bee inspector for the
Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture, Erie, Pennsylvania area in 1995.

Standard Equivalents and Measures:

1 pound = 453.597 grams = .453 Kg
1 Kg = 2.2046 pounds

1 fluid ounce = 29.57373 cc
1/4 oz = 7.3934 cc

1 cc = 0.0338 oz. = 25 drops from a standard medicine dropper

10 cc = .338 oz or about 1/3 ounce or two teaspoonfuls

1 fluid dram = 3.6967 cc=20
                     0.125 ounces
                     1/8 oz.
                     .75 tsp.

1 teaspoonful = 1.33333 fluid drams
                     = 4.93 cc,
        or           = approximately 5 cc
                     = 1/6 oz.

1/2   tsp.           = 2.465 cc
              Or     = approx. 2.5 cc

1/4 tsp.             =  1.2325 cc

1/8 tsp              =   0.62 cc

1 tablespoonful = 3  teaspoonfuls, = 4 drams
                     = 14.7868 cc
          or         = approximately 15 cc
                     = 1/2 oz.

1 cup = 8 ounces or = pound
          =  236.58984 cc

1/4 cup   = 4 ounces
          =  118.29492 cc

1/3 cup   = 2.666667 ozs
          = 78.86328 cc

1/4 cup = 2 ounces
          = 59.14746 cc

1/8 cup = 1 ounce=20
             = 29.57373 cc
             = 8 drams
             = 6 tsp. or 2 tablespoonfulls

1 common ounce dry weight (avdp) = 28.34952 grams

1 cup sugar = 218.3 grams (by experiment) = 7.7 oz. Avdp.
1 cup crisco = 217.36 grams (by experiment) = 7.66 oz. Avdp.

Example, making grease patties:

A standard container of crisco weighs 3 lbs. To this add 6 lbs of sugar,
for a total of 9 lbs. Nine lbs of grease patties requires 1/4 oz. per
pound = 9*.25= 2.25 ozs or 66.5 cc of wintergreen (a little more
than 1/4 cup or=  1/4 cup + 1 and 1/2 tsp.)

Sincerely,

Jim Amrine
Division of Plant & Soil Sciences
P. O. Box 6108, West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV 26506-6108
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<> web: http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/varroa.htm <>
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