According to Paul Harvey, in one of his news briefs this week, powered
>sugar is an effective treatment for varrora mites.  I was told that he
>stated that according to a beekeeper in Oregan that it actually kills
>mites. I did not hear this myself as I do not listen to him.  As close as
>I can tell he probably broadcasted this on Tue or earlier.  I had a person
>ask me about this, that is how I found out.  So is anyone familar with
>this claim or this beekeeper?


It was on Tuesday's newscast.  A week of archives exists on www.PaulHarvey.com.

However, here is the original report:

SALEM BEEKEEPER’S GIZMO HAS HONEY INDUSTRY ABUZZ

Monday, November 4, 2002 - - By The Associated Press

SALEM, OREGON — A Salem beekeeper has invented a machine that uses powdered
sugar instead of chemicals
to rid bees of the deadly Varroa mite, a parasite wiping out hives around
the country.
The bees are sunk in a vat of powdered sugar, sent onto a vibrating screen
and emerge free of
the mite. Harry Vanderpool says a couple of pounds of powdered sugar and
his invention — a machine he
calls the Mitey-Victor — could help beekeepers get the upper hand against
the mite. At stake are
billions of dollars in the honey industry and in crops reliant on bee
pollination.

Scientists trying to stop the Varroa mite have long known that powdered
sugar will cause the
mites to release their grip on honeybees, although they're not sure why.
But Vanderpool's mechanical
extractor is something new, and it has the world of apiculture buzzing with
speculation.

The beekeeper's invention could provide an alternative to the chemical
warfare that has been
waged on Varroa mites for the past 15 years. Vanderpool's concept showed
enough promise that the
Oregon Department of Agriculture gave him nearly $12,000 from a federal
grant to develop a prototype.
The machine is a two-level vibrating screener that is powered by a 12-volt
battery. Made of stainless
steel, the prototype is built on a two-wheeled trailer chassis.

"This isn't rocket science whatsoever," Vanderpool said. Bees and powdered
sugar go in a hopper
at the top. Mites and leftover sugar fall into separate drawers at the
bottom. The Varroa mites dry up
and die in less than an hour. Most of the bees fly out of the machine, and
others are temporarily
dazed and fall onto a conveyor that deposits them on the ground.

Powdered sugar is routinely used to deliver antibiotics to bees because the
insects will
eagerly consume it. Ken Kite, a Stayton resident who keeps beehives as a
hobby, let Vanderpool test
his machine on his bees. He was impressed, as well as amused: "It just
bounced these sugar-coated bees
out into a pile." The bees were unharmed after their journey through the
Mitey-Victor, Kite said, and
subsequent tests indicated that few mites remained in the hives.
Vanderpool, who keeps 50 hives on his
property south of Salem, says his bees have passed through the Mitey-Victor
with no ill effects.
Similar screening devices are used in industries ranging from commercial
bakeries to rock-crushing
operations. But the Mitey-Victor has patentable features, and Vanderpool
has been granted a
provisional patent, which gives him a year to get a full-fledged patent.

Varroa mites have spread across the nation since they were first detected
here in 1987. Only
Hawaii has escaped their onslaught. They have devastated wild-honeybee
colonies and become an
expensive nuisance for the estimated 200,000 beekeepers in the United
States. Industry experts agree
that chemicals, which were the first line of defense against the mites,
have become less and less
effective as mites adapted.