My comments on the Nobel prize were an attempt to air out my dry wit, perhaps a bit too dry, apologies. But keep plugging away Randy, there is yet hope.  :)

The real question that I believe we would do well to pursue is defining "treatment free". I think many new beekeepers hear treatment free as "hands off". I stand by my statement that that is not a viable plan. I acknowledge that a diligent plan of interference via drone removal, queen caging or replacement for brood interruption,  frequent splitting, or even selecting thru inbreeding of Russian stock to get tiny colonies that can survive without treatment can work. They all require a good knowledge of bee biology and a great deal of time per colony that makes then unrealistic for any but researchers or small knowledgeable hobbyist. They can also be considered "treatments" if what the aim is is to reduce the varroa population. The so called soft methods of screened bottoms, sugar dusting, small cell, resistant or survivor stock, miracle patties, and essential oils have not stood up to scientific scrutiny and are also "treatments". Next is formic, oxalic and thymol. They work but all require care and proper timing and each has it's hazards. They are far from "bee friendly" but I do use and depend on each in it's time and have had success and some notable failures. To those that claim that these are not "chemicals" I say dream on. Then the previous registered miteasides that have failed, fluvalinate and coumaphos. In my opinion it is unwise to use them because they don't work and contaminate your comb, basically a no-brainer. Finally amatraz, I now judicially use Apivar and previously used Taktic. Like it or not they are the standards of the industry. They will certainly fail in time (maybe already or soon) and successors are an urgent need for mid and large beekeepers. 

 Monitoring is absolutely essential and a knowledge of population growth dynamics is required. Roughly, mite population doubles every three weeks during the active season. For me that is Feb. thru Oct.. 30 mites in Jan. (an undetectable number) will grow untreated to 2,000 in July (big trouble) and 8,000 in Sept. (certain death). I now use three and sometimes four treatments annually. I am constantly trying to keep up with best management practices. Through constant vigilance we are barely keeping our heads above water. 

Maybe a Nobel prize is not so far fetched after all.

Paul Hosticka
Dayton WA

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