Hello All,
> > A plant that you could burn in your smoker that
> > killed mites, now
> > there is something that we all could use!
>Doesn't tobacco do that?

Most beekeepers report that tobacco will knock mites off bees but has low
kill power. Also grapefruit leaves were shown more effective than tobacco in
the test results I looked at.

Sadly both the above would help in IPM control but would not work by
themselves. Breathing the smoke everyday as in a commercial setting would
not be healthy in my opinion and costly if talking stocking the smoker with
tobacco at today's prices.

The most logical method (systemic control) I have touched on on BEE-L before
but will take a step further.

From the start we asked the USDA for a systemic control (1987). For the few
on the list not familiar with the word I will explain further. Systemic
control is like the flea and tick medicine many people give to their pets.
When the flea or tick ingests the blood from the animal it dies. The same
principal is applied to my livestock with the product invermectin.

THE PROBLEM WITH SYSTEMIC AND BEES as passed on  to me indirectly by the
company asked to register the systemic for bees.

Unlike a 1200 pound cow and a tick, with bees you have got two insects which
are close in size  and similar in many ways. I was told a systemic has been
found which would work BUT if not mixed properly would kill varroa and bees.

 They said if the product could be marketed already mixed then the risk
would be slight in killing bees. If sold in concentrate (as most chemicals
are) and left to be mixed by the beekeeper and too strong a mix due to not
following label then the bees die also
.
Slang for pesticide is the word poison around apple growers. The systemic
would be a poison.

 To low a mix and the varroa build resistance.

To strong and dead bees and varroa.

All systemic for pets is premixed for the above reason.

Also the systemic for dogs is different for cats. Never mix the two.

There are many beekeepers which could use the systemic without problems but
there are others which would mix at times incorrectly and bad PR would come
from those beekeepers swearing the product was mixed correctly and still the
bees died.

Those beekeepers would then sue  the registering chemical company to pay for
the dead hives. I was told a systemic product was coming several years ago
by Dr. Shiminuki. Then rumors started floating around about the chemical
company worried about the above.

If there are those on BEE-L with updated information on a systemic please
post as I and others on the list would be interested in  current
information.

If the bee could live a normal life  with a systemic without the
bloodsucking varroa  and  the  systemic cure was reasonable priced and could
be simply applied when feeding syrup in the spring then the systemic might
be what many are looking for. The person informing me said the systemic also
worked for tracheal mites and had not been found to leave residues in honey
or wax .

 The U.S.D.A. has a higher priority in finding a way to replace the feral
swarms and so can not devote the time needed I have been told to search for
the systemic. I might add I do not know the name of the systemic which is
supposed to work. A very well kept secret as I have tried to find out
without success. Any ideas on which chemical is the one researchers say
would work?

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison