Carolyn Ehle wrote:
>
> At the risk of jinxing what appears to be a "perfect game", here's a
> report on my FGMO method which appears quite effective (knock on wood).
> As a committed organic gardner and a very chemical-sensitive biologist
> (too many toxic spills), I've gone from a 1-hive hobby 2 years ago to
> very small commercial:  25 hives and counting this year, selling honey
> etc.

I hope you succeed, but one problem with varroa is the build up
time. We had many beekeepers in Maine who thought they were fine
when varroa first showed up so did not treat and did well for the
first three years. Then they lost their bees over the winter.
We are experiencing some fairly substantial losses this year. And
it is right on time with the cycle of start, buildup, crash,
start, buildup crash...
It seems the cycle is three to five years, with four being more
the norm. There are many variables when dealing with varroa. For
example, many of the crashes seem to be tied with robbing of a
varroa infested hive by a strong hive. That breaks the normal
cycle and you can have major crashes with strong, supposedly
healthy hives. Or you can be in an area with good beekeepers who
treat and keep the varroa population in check and go untreated
for years. Location also figures in. I think we have it much
better in the northern climates than do those in the south. When
our freral population is killed off it takes a while to build up
again.
The few real tests of FGMO still seem to indicate it does not
work. And after reading the emails from those who put their faith
in essential oils and lost everything, I will stay with Apistan,
which is much more benign than formic acid. I go with the most
benign but effective pesticide. If FGMO, which is being used as a
pesticide, can be show to work, I would use it today.
Bill T