Hi!  I'm a Beekeeper from Northeast Arkansas that's now attending the
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.  I'll have to admit that I'm pretty
ignorant when it comes to bee biology, but I have a few questions that maybe
someone can help me with...
     I remember reading in Gleanings a couple of years ago an article written
from an Australian that said that he put eucalyptus leaves in his smoker and
never had any problems with tracheal mites, while other hives were dying all
around him.  Any truth to this?  Also has anyone tried 'vaporizing' a hive.  I
wondered if a person could seal off their hive,put menthol oil and water in a
vaporizor, hook it up to a gas generator, and blow 'menthol' steam in the hive
through a small hole in the hive entrance.  Has anyone tried this?  Would it be
effective?  Since the solid menthol works best in the day so it can evaporate
some, and disrupts the bees daily activities, wouldn't this way be a more
'bee-friendly' method of mite control since it could be done at night?  I would
 appreciate it if someone would shoot this idea full of holes if it wouldn't
work.  If they don't, I might be tempted to try it on one or two or my hives
back home...
 
 Thanks,
 Chad