From: Pav <bobhog@pin.co.nz>
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 13:46:36 +1200
To: <BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: Mid-season mite 'treatment'

At 10/07/01 19:00:00, Dee wrote:

>>At the risk of being called namby-pamby by Dee

>Now Pav would I call you that? :>)

No, that'd be letting me off too lightly...

>...If this would have worked starting from the early
>1980s forward, there would not be so many lost bees and beekeepers out of
>business. This is not a new treatment but one that has been around for at
>least 2 decades now.
>
> Even locally here were I live, those that have treated with such are no
>longer in business. Also those that tried acids. Those using essential oils
>ditto with low colony counts left; and none of these methods are used by
>beekeepers still keeping big numbers because the labor intensive treatments
>are not cost effective and will not allow one to stay in business earning a
>living.

When i first read Dee's reply, i summarised to myself that Dee was saying: "old hat,
doesn't work" and was thinking: "If its so ineffective, then it amounts to same as doing nothing - just like Dee tells us to have the balls to do - so why did all those beek's go out of business?". Wasn't too long before the answer came to me: They didn't re-size their combs! How'm i doin' Dee?

Re-reading it now to reply, i feel i may have mis-read Dee the first time. Seems to me now, that Dee is saying it doesn't work on a COMMERCIAL scale, due to the degree of labour intensity involved. Should still be okay to save those 5 hives at the bottom of the garden though - we know that icing sugar DOES knock mites off bees...

-Pav, back for more punishment.