Story time :
Beekeepers were always reluctant to use chemicals in their
Hives let alone spend the money.
 
The time period was before varroa mites and  the hives in the U.S. were about to crash from a problem mite named tracheal mite.

Commercial beekeepers were trying to buy microscopes and learn to test. Yards were crashing.

Many could.believe what they were seeing. Half U,S. Hives were about to crash.

One of the largest beekeepers asked what Europe was using?

Menthol.

He asked the dose.

50 grams per hive

Before the beekeeper would spend the price of several new pickups for treatment for the new pest a simple test was performed.

Jars with bee samples sitting on shelves were brought out .
 A few crystals of menthol were placed in hand with a few tracheal mite infested.bees.

The bees were then examined under the scope.

A section 18 was got for menthol and the rest is beekeeping  history.

In the office then the tracheal mite problem was turned around. 

Point is beekeepers buying truck loads of products keep the industry going. Those I have worked with never take spending money lightly.

Consider if we had as said in the documentary "Vanishing of the Bees" instead of one commercial beekeeper managing 60,000 hives but 60,000 beekeepers with a single hive the problem of getting solutions to beekeeping problems?

Hard to get a room full of beekeepers to agree let alone 60,000 ! 




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