Hi all
My experience with varroa only goes back to 1999, since I quit beekeeping in the 1990s for almost ten years. By 1999, coumaphos was the drug of choice. I detested it, and so with my own hives, they just died. 

I read everything about natural mite control, wrote a 3 part series on it for the ABJ and even did a few presentations. I collected feral colonies, bought mite resistant bees, cut drone brood. (No small cell for me, sorry).

None of this works in my area. The hives are collapsing, riddled with mites, rotten brood, and half eaten bees. Others in the area are experiencing the same thing. Applying thymol as a last ditch attempt to save them.

So, all I can say is treatment-free beekeeping may work for some, but I don't see it working here.


PLB

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