I have watched this thread about Api-life Var and Thymol for a while.  I am a small scale hobbyist in the mid west. I used Api-life Var when first available in 2005.  My colony losses have increased since its use in my colonies and in another operation far from me since the application.  I immediately saw queen failures like never before.  The odor of this stuff lingers in comb to this day. I am culling everything since all of the discussion about old comb contamination. 
I know these losses coincide with all of the other issues we read about on this list everyday, but the effect after the application was nearly immediate in both situations.
My backyard operation consists of about 12 colonies in typical suburbia.  The neighbors are obsessed with pristine grass lawns.  Many different tank truck and solid lawn care operations apply materials to the neighborhood grass and plants. I have no definitive, scientific evidence of cause for my losses, and can only try what is mentioned on this and other sites.  I have historically tried everything for mite control and honestly do not see the numbers of mites, (hardly any) since getting queens from resistant stock.  I have fed, applied Fumagillin religiously, and the CCD like losses continues.  Among my peers this seems typical. I know I have rambled about in this message, however I haven’t seen many postings concerning backyard operations losses and challenges.  There are many of us out here, and like the large operators we struggle with beekeeping today.  

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