Hello all,
In response to the many questions regarding my post on my use of menthol for
Acarine i thought i should do this post.
As i said earlier when the lab first detected tracheal mites in my bees i
switched to Buckfast bees (1980's). Because all Buckfast bees in the U.S.
Are
U.S. queens inseminated with pure Buckfast semen i found them to still need
treatments to keep infestation levels down in Missouri winters. Because they
didn't produce honey like my Italians i switched back to all Italians.
Commercially Italians are the most important race in the world(ABC-XYZ
Beekeeping). My strain of Italians average honey yields greater than the
Buckfast ever did and enough to warrent the change back.
 Italians are VERY susceptible to Acarine.
quote Brother Adam:
Very strangely,the bright-colored strains,so widely favored nowadays,are,as
our experiance has shown,unusually susceptible to Acarine.
In 1925 and again in 1958 Brother Adam tried to test a strain of Italians
with many good traits for his line.
quote Brother Adam:
In the case in question the susceptibility was so acute that from the purely
economic point of veiw,we were left with no other choice but to abandon this
strain.
I know many of you have emailed me and said you don't have to treat for
Acarine. If you are using a dark bee i am sure you are correct. My Italian
strain IS susceptible. My tests confirm they are. When i switched back to
Italians I used grease patties and since 1997 i have used menthol/canola for
complete control. The menthol/canola treatment costs approx $.50 per colony
and the two treatments are combined with other trips to the yards. I expect
to allways have to treat my Italians for tracheal mites. To me a extra super
of honey at harvest time per colony is worth the treatment. The queens are
easier to find. I am sure you all have many reasons why you use the strain
you use. The above is why i use mine and why i allways expect to have to
treat for tracheal mites. If you are using Italians you might think about my
observations.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
Odessa,Missouri