Catnip Oil and Bees ** And Skeeters (Sorta Long)

[Guest guest]

Hey Carol,

 

> Hi, I came across an warning on a web site , saying that catnip oil may

> attract bees. Has anyone heard of this before and is there any truth to

> it?

 

That tale has floated around a while .. its based on a site .. probably

the same one you saw. That site is doing things to Catnip and selling

it as a special product that will NOT attract bees .. so one can easily

see the reason for their caution. ;-)

 

If we say something is happening pretty soon folks will start to believe

it and to not be left out of events of the day they might even testify

that they too experienced it .. sorta like War of the Worlds.

 

Another person on another list extrapolated to the max .. drew up some

conclusions that appeared to be logical but were not necessarily so ..

and if they are .. then they apply to most other plants from which we

extract oils .. they wrote .. Catnip: This incredible plant has evolved

to kill and repel insects harmful to it but still attract bees crucial

to its reproduction. You may repel mosquitoes but have cats and bees

after you! Like anything else....there are trade-offs.

 

The above is poor science .. even the business of cats being attracted

is nonsense as many cats don't give a damn about Catnip.

 

Are there ANY plants in the world that have survived millions of years

of natural selection that can NOT protect themselves from their natural

enemies .. and .. procreate? The statement above is NOT profound.

 

Drawing incorrect conclusions from correct information is the way word

smiths, politicians and marketers make a living .. if one wants to offer

a product in competition with Catnip they can certainly bastardize the

facts to make them appear as they wish them to appear. The fact that

bees like pollen and that they get pollen from flowers is well known but

this is not restricted to Catnip. The below URL can be bastardized ..

 

http://www.astroscratchingpad.com/catnip.htm

 

> Catnip also attracts bees, but not for the same reason that it attracts cats.

> It is an excellent honey plant, providing nectar for honeybees and other bees.

> According to Crockett and Tanner (1977), goldfinches are drawn to the dry seed

> heads in winter.

 

The above is a part of that URL that can be bastardized .. bees like

honey and and Catnip is a great plant to have around if you want lots of

honey .. and .. its a scientifically proven fact fer'shur that we gotta

be careful about being attacked by Goldfinches. ;-)

 

Again .. how many flowering plants do NOT attract bees? If we want to

commit the most common error in aromatherapy we can just assign the

characteristics of a herb or spice or plant to that of the essential

oil from that plant. Those who try to do this need to go back to

Aromatherapy 101!~

 

If they choose to NOT do that .. keeping in mind that buzzy busy bees

pollinate most any flower .. they must assign the same characteristics

of the plant to ALL essential oils!~ Folks who have visited me have

seen loads of bees on Rose Blossoms and on Oregano Blossoms .. I know of

no blossoms that do not attract bees.

 

All dawgs are animals but all animals ain't dawgs. Generalizations can

get us in a corner if'n we ain't careful.

 

I sent all of the messages to Martin fro his opinion. He wrote ...

 

> Just been trying to sort out what that scrambled message is about.

>

> It looks to me like these people are hopping around between the known

> effects of the plant and the essential oil without differentiating

> between those uses. If that is the case then they are dreadful

> scientists and way out of their area of knowledge.

>

> I LOVE Catnip as a plant, but the fragrance given off by the flowers

> and leaves is much sweeter than the essential oil. The bees and other

> insects also love that plant. However, that cannot be extrapolated for

> the essential oil. The fragrance from the flowers is a very different

> substance to the distilled oil and will therefore have different

> effects.

>

> Catnip as a plant also varies in its effects; some cats love it roll on

> it and go all stupid, others get very aggressive. A typical scenario

> the same as people who drink too much. Therefore, to assume the oil

> will always have the same effects on insects or whatever is not wise.

> It is well known that essential oils can have dual effects dependent

> on dose. For example some oils have been found to be excellent

> bactericides at certain levels of use, yet go a fraction down in dose

> and they can actually stimulate the growth of bacteria. There has

> been tons of research in the food trade on these effects. Martin

 

I'll mention the obvious .. pollen of a plant does not make it through

the distillation process. ;-)

 

Do some perfumes attract bees? Maybe .. I don't wear perfume. But its

not just nice smells that attract them. Manure piles don't smell good

and bees are attracted to it .. same for dead animals.

 

Another writer said they would add a bee repellent to theirs and sell it

as a mix. I ask what is a bee repellent .. but I get no answers. But I

can understand the economics of Value Added. ;-)

 

Another lady wrote this to me .. on another list ..

 

> My experience with catnip. I did not buy my catnip from you, but the first oz

I

> bought broke during shipping. Bubble wrap covered in super-strong-smelling

catnip!

> I put that bubble wrap outside for a while before putting in trash, and never

saw any

> bees. Plus, the whole box reeked of catnip while sitting on my front porch

before I

> got to it. No bees flying around the box, and at the time, I had several

jasmine plants

> in my front yard. (which did attract bees!)

>

> I have never worn catnip on my body, because quite frankly, I don't like the

smell! But

> I used it sprinkled around the doors to repel insects. No bees flying around

my doors.

> But I can't give a testimonial on personal use on the body, because I've not

done that.

>

> Now in regards to rose....while living in Dallas, I slathered on some of your

rose otto

> dilluted in carrier before going to a playground with the kidlets, and I was

chased several

> times by bees. Don't know if it was the rose, but that's the first thing I

thought of.

 

Another lady wrote this ......

 

> Just a note first on the catnip in mosquito repellent. Our formula is

> working excellent on Alaskan mosquitos in lotion and using the raw herb

> as a tea solution. At no time has it attracted any bees and I was

> working amongst them in the garden.

 

I contacted 2 chemists, one botanist and one Professor of Chemistry ..

plus 16 of the people who have bought Catnip from me. I have responses

back from the chemist, the botanist and the professor and 12 customers.

The scientists asked for proof .. all three said they'd not heard of

such a thing. Of the 12 customers who responded 1 had not used it yet.

The other 11 said they had and were not bothered by bees. If I add

myself .. that's 13 not bothered by bees. Not very scientific but ..

 

We tested it twice .. results were that the bees didn't give a crap one

way or the other .. at the hive. Second test was with two rags .. one

soaked in sugar water and the other in Catnip oil .. laid out side by

side in a field of clover. Bees came to the sugared cloth and didn't

pay the other one any attention. Are these tests scientific? Nope!

But there are no scientific tests saying it attracts them either.

 

Then the List Mom from Alaska Soapers wrote this ..

 

> I have been making a mosquito repellant using citronella, catnip, lemon

> eucalyptus and a little cedarwood for the horses. It works great, (I'd

> use more catnip if I had more and because of all my gardening

> efforts we have bees all over the place but I've never seen any out at

> the barn or in the little pasture when the horses are out.

>

> We'll have Tang test it, she has bees all over at her place!

>

> Judy

 

And guess what? We had Tang test it .. she's a professional beekeeper.

That data is below .. I have permission to repeat it.

 

On 12 June 2003 .. Tang reported on the Alaska Soapers List ..

 

> Ok, here's what happened:

> I went with Ben to do a couple hive checks. I did not wear any

> protective gear as it was hot and sunny today. I saturated one hand,

> and I mean REALLY saturated one hand (left)...when I went to sprinkle

> some Catnip Oil on my hand the little dropper thing came out and half

> a bottle poured all over my hand. So I went out with dripping hand

> and we opened the hives. At this point we have bees working on

> about 8 frames, so there are a lot of bees in there now. I handled

> all of the frames, and stood in such a way as my hand left hand was

> where the bees come home to where the upper entrance should be. When

> we move the feeder they mill around and collect where the entrance

> usually is. When I pulled the middle, and most populated frames my

> hand was in a cloud of bees. Well, the bees just milled and walked

> around on my hands as usual. So, I can say it looked to us as if the

> bees were neither repelled or attracted. They just ignored the stuff

> all together! They definitely were not attracted, so would you say

> they would be repelled if they did not sting? Or would the

> conclusion be " impartial " ?? I actually rubbed some of the Catnip Oil

> on one of the frame tops and they just kept on working like it wasn't

> there. So now you know what I know. tang

 

In the absence of scientific information we have only observation to

fall back on .. bees and dawgs and baby humans are not subject to

placebos and the effects of holistic ideas, esoteric or altruism. Thus,

they make real fine subjects for observation of effect. I wait for

scientific evidence that Catnip attracts bees but have seen none. I do

have evidence that it repels mosquitos ..

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010828075659.htm

 

webmd.com/content/Article/34/1728_87713.htm

 

There are other URLS I could provide .. and many, many, many personal

testimonials .. but I think I have provided enough already. Well ..

maybe one more. ;-) Victoria Linssen's brother, Greg, bought some from

me afore a trip to the Amazon .. Victoria reported this on the Idma List

and has given me permission to use it ..

 

> My brother recently used catnip oil in a light dilution (2%), along with

> a few other oils, to use as a mosquito repellent for his trip to the Amazon

> rain forest. It worked like a dream, no negative reactions to the oils.

> And the one place he forgot to put the oil is where he got bit (on his

ankles).

>

> Victoria

 

If I were to decide to stop selling Catnip EO it would be a drop in the

bucket to my sales .. we now serve customers in 50 states and 64 other

countries. My sales of Catnip is less than 1% of my overall sales to

these folks. Based on what I know now .. I will continue to offer it.

 

Skeeters can be killers.

 

Catnip is listed on my wholesale site ..not on the Retail site yet.

 

> Thanks

> Carol

 

Welcome fer'shur .. y'all keep smiling. And as its already Skeeter

time, I hope y'all don't keep scratching. ;-)

 

Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

All kinds of GC Tested goodies .. include Catnip (Nepeta cataria in 10

ml size for $8.88 and 20 ml size for $15.54.