Dave from Scranton wrote:
>
> On Wed, 22 Jan 1997, Dr. Pedro Rodriguez wrote:
> > > His procedure calls for a very little smear of FGMO on the wax paper
> > > strips.  He cautioned that too much FGMO will be detrimental to the
> > > bees as well as the mites.  His hypothesis regarding how the FGMO is
> > > effective is that the FGMO gets into the spiracles of the mites (both
> > > tracheal and varroa), thereby suffocating them.  The spiracles of the
> > > mites are much smaller than those of the bees, which is why a small
> > > quantity of FGMO is recommended - copious amounts of FGMO would also
> > > clog up the bees' spiracles.
>
>         When I mentioned the grease patty idea to my wife, she wasn't
> suprised by it. As a kid, she raised rabbits and they used to smear
> Vaseiline in the rabbits ears to kill the mites. One wonders why FGMO
> works over the Crisco patties other than the FGMO might be smaller in size
> thana huge glob of vegetable oil and better suited to get into the mites?
>
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Dear Dave:
(You might say that this is an advance (synopsis)on my impending
publication).
Your got it my friend! It took me a long time studying the
characteristics of mites and what would affect them biologically. Then I
remembered that as a veterinarian I used to treat ear mites in cats and
rabbits with nothing but mineral oil and the same thing for scale mites
on the legs of birds. And bingo! Through study, I learned that mites
have two types of pores on their bodies. One type for breathing
(respiration) and one type for taking in moisture (hydration). I thought
that if I could block these pores, the mites should die. By combining my
veterinary medicine experience and my knowledge about mite biology, I
arrived at mineral oil. The beauty of my system is that the mineral oil
can be made readily available for exposure to the mites (contrary to
patties from which the bees must eat; or walk on Crisco smeared sticky
sheets placed on the bottom boards). MO is much more fluid and thus,
like you "wondered" it penetrates the pores of the mites more readily
blocking the pores and killing the mites through SUFFOCATION AND
DEHYDRATION. From my food service experience in the Army and USDA, I
know that Food Grade Mineral Oil does not contaminate the food or the
environment and is approved by the government for use in food service
industries. Hence we have a substance that is lethal to mites, it is not
a pesticide, it is bee friendly (used in proper amounts) and environment
friendly.
And it is working like a charm on my own bees! Soon I will publish a
full report on my findings.
Many regards.
Dr. Rodriguez