> "So is the solution trained attack bees to control the
> treatment free beekeepers who are the source of the mites?"
Animosity never got anyone anywhere.
First, I had to (at last) admit to myself that education alone was not going
to change some beekeepers' belief systems.
Second, I looked at the problem from the bees' point of view.
Then, I bought a wholesale quantity of 8-frame and 10-frame entrance
reducers, and modified the "education" accordingly.
I will repeat yet again that we may not be Our Brother's Keeper, but we must
occasionally be "Our Brother's Beekeeper".
Here's the pitch for someone who is hoping to change the course of evolution
two deadouts at a time:
1) Prevent ROBBING!
2) Use these entrance reducers in fall! Here's a free one, if you don't
have one. Take two, they're small.
3) You don't feed your colonies, or treat your colonies, but there is
nothing wrong with at least making it easier for them to defend themselves.
4) If everyone puts in entrance reducers EARLY, robbing never gets started.
Robbing is a "learned" behavior, prompted by opportunity.
This reduced fall varroa problems considerably, but like Bill T, I feel that
Oxalic is as close to a "solution" as we may ever get for varroa.
In my case "education" was simple self-defense and self-preservation. So
were the entrance reducers. The fad has evaporated, the hipsters have moved
on to other hobbies like macramé and craft beer, so the current push is to
check all the FORMER city-registered hive locations, and get all the
abandoned rooftop hives removed. There is a glut of lightly-used but
wax-moth-damaged woodenware on the local market as a result.
The beekeepers who still keep bees in the City seem to include a minimal
number who persist in divergent views, which has reduced the reported
incidents of sudden fall mite upswings, and deadouts. This year's
cooperative package run did not even fill a Volvo v70 wagon, so fall splits
are also working well.
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