Bob Stevens wrote:
>
> REGARDING MR. HARRISON'S STATEMENTS REGARDING A COMPARISION BETWEEN THE
> EFFECTIVENESS OF MENTHOL AND FORMIC ACID GEL  ON TRACHEAL MITE.
>
> HERE ARE THE ACTUAL RESULTS FROM THE COMPARISON AT THE BELTSVILLE BEE
> LABORATORY DONE BY DRS. PETTIS, KOCHANSKY AND SHIMANUKI.
Dear Mr. Stevens,
Thanks for your taking time out of your busy day to repond. We have met
and talked before. I and other beekeepers appreciate you being the main
reason this beekeeping tool is approved and on the market. Many Bee-L
readers may not realize you run thousands of bees yourself.
I really never doubted the gels effectiveness for the tracheal mite but
pointed out that LIKE menthol it is temperature dependent.
I did point out that the menthol/canola costs less then .50 per colony
BUT does nothing to combat varroa.
Would you mind posting Dr. Shiminuki's results from his tests on Formic
acid gell use for varroa. i feel the temperature could effect the varroa
treatment but have a open mind.
Also i noticed in your spring 2000 catalog you recommend 2 fomic acid
treatments for varroa in heavy infestations. Could you explain your
thoughts there. I do whole hardily agree the effectivness would be
better by two treatments.
I recommend at all my beekeeping talks that whatever the choice for
treatment you should allways test with roll or sticky board in seven
days to see if treatment is working. Don't just put strips,etc. in and
walk away and say "i did my part". All beekeepers need to learn to test
for varroa. In my opinion there is no excuse for the losses seen last
winter to fluvaliant resistant varroa. My bees might have been in the
area and got reinfested robbing those hives out. Thanks for the honey
stores but you can keep your varroa. The whole industry needs to try and
keep varroa levels at low levels.
Thanks again for the gell and i really hope it proves out as you and Dr.
Shiminuki believe it will. Dr. Shim and i discussed the gell in person
three times last year. Bee-l is a discussion and we discuss all possible
options with treatments. I hope all readers can agree to disagree at
times. We all have our opinions right or wrong. All i ask is kindness to
others views and a open mind. Good luck in the comming be year!
Bob Harrison U.S.A.