Many, many years ago, when I had fewer hives, I used fogged canola oil with 1% essential oils. Canola oil is a botanical oil. Mineral oil is a petroleum product. That was my personal issue.
I set out to count mites in a yard with sticky boards for three days and averaged my counts per hive. Then I randomly divided the yard into treated hives and control/untreated hives.
I used the fogger per the video and counted mites on a sticky board for three days, averaging my results per hive.
Of the treated hives, 1/3 dropped fewer mites, 1/3 dropped the same average amount, 1/3 dropped more mites.
Of the control/untreated hives, 1/3 dropped fewer mites, 1/3 dropped the same average amount, 1/3 dropped more mites.
What I really learned is that mites drops vary between sunny days and cloudy days. Strong hives drop more mites than weak hives (duh). I also learned sticky boards are not the best way to assess the mite loads. This was back in the stone age before we started alcohol wash and powdered sugar shakes which are much more accurate when done correctly.
I did the same experiment with sumac berries in my smoker and found a significant mite drop in the treated hives, when compared to control/untreated hives, using the same three day average.
I don't take much stock in my results, nor my methodology, necessarily. I think fogging anything in the hives causes a lot of disruption and agitation, that mites would be inadvertantly dislodged. I would think, that since this method only works on phoretic/exposed mites, it would require multiple applications.
At that time, Dr. Rodrigez, the veteranarian from Spain, was promoting this procedure. He caught enough criticism that he left the country and the emphasis faded away. I've since then discontinued fogging my hives.
I have no ax to grind and no dog in this fight. It's my two cents.
Grant
Jackson, MO
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