> I applied about 30 g [thymol]... 
> enough to cause the removal 
> of most brood, yet still had a 
> high mite level 4 days
> later. 

> In my operation, we are 
> experiencing higher mite levels...
> and started treating yesterday 
> with the full 2-strip dose of MAQS,
> as opposed to the single strip that 
> we usually use.

Back when people first started reporting Apistan resistance, we did not know
the cause (turned out that alternating with Check-Mite was the cause!), so I
soldered a massive pile of 4-inch-square push-in queen cages from 8-mesh,
and we caged queens for a brood cycle, and then treated with Apistan.
This tactic might be worth looking at in years when control is hit-and-miss
with any product, and would make it easier to kill mites with lower doses,
and thereby causing less collateral damage.  Nothing makes it easier to kill
mites than denying them cover.

Of course, one has to be very sure that missing an entire brood cycle is
timed properly, so that one sees a forager population reduction during the
dearth, and one has to be very careful to not cage the queen too long.
There are some decent plastic push-in-queen cages out there these days, but
there is one that is made of thick white plastic that makes it impossible to
see the queen when she is inside the cage - not a good design.  

I've yet to see any published work confirming the statement, but Jerry Hayes
spoke of formic acid-induced antenna damage, and I can visualize how a stong
dose of formic might do damage.  This also neatly explains the consistent
percentage of reports that formic treatments prompt supercedures - the
workers with damaged antennae can't smell the queen pheromone, and can't
taste it as a result of food exchanges so the take the coup d'etat route
when I expect them to take the cuppa tea  route.

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