On Fri, 28 Jun 1996, douglas baty wrote:
 
> I used 'mite solution' for the first time last fall.  Prior to its use I
> had lost 23 of my 30 hives to Varroa mite.  Although I had earlier used
> Apistan, I did not want to continue using it.  I placed the mite solution
> in with grease patties in the fall, again this spring.  A month ago I
> checked for Varroa, both in drone brood and with Apistan with sticky
> boards, and found NO Varroa.  I don't know why it works, but from my
> experience, it does work, and the bees are once again healthy and busy in
> our gardens.
>
Hi Douglas and All, Please don't use any chemical that has not been
approved for use and registered.The tests needed to qualify a chemical to
be used in a hive is a lot more complex than killing the mite. We don't
need to be forced to test all of our Honey before we go to market with
it. The apple growers in Washington state are still getting over there
problem with atar.We have a wonderful product Honey.We need to keep the
public looking at our product as being pure. There is a lot of money
being spent to promote our product as being pure and natural.
  I want to get rid of Varroa as bad as anyone on this list. I lost 50
out of 80 hives last fall and I'm doing what I can to get the public to
see our problem , which will be there problem if we loose many more bees.
I did get an article and a picture in our Bremerton paper, about 20,000
copies about the mite and our problems dealing with it. Front page caption.
  I do know a little about chemistry. I have always enjoyed it very muck.
My Son is finisning up now with his degree in Chemistry.
 We were looking at the ways wax will hold some of these compounds that
people are using.I do know the frustration that a beekeeper has when they
loose a lot of hives. Some people loose a lot more than me.Why set up the
whole industry to have the honey checked for purity , when thats what we
are selling. Lets do the positive things that we can all do to get
support for a long term fix without chemicals. I know it is hard to go up
against the chemical loby , but it costs us time and money to keep
putting chemicals into our hives.Lets make shure that we put in only
those that are registered and support the breeding programs that are
going on. Europe seems to be working hard at fixing the problem through
genetics. We have some wonderful beekeepers doing the same thing on there
own.Lets not shoot ourselves in the foot before we get the real long term
fix.
 My opinion; Formic acid should not be used in a behive because of the
Pheromones are organic acids and much weaker. It will cause some problems
for the pheromones and the behavior of the bees. We may have to use it in
the US if we don't get good backing for our researchers and the USDA to
come up with a better fix.
 
 Best Regards
  Roy