"Andrew Johnston" wrote:
'All literature I have read on the subject states that oxalic should be
applied during the broodless period in late autumn,assuming this was when
the most mites would be hit.'

This is the problem with oxalic - by the time that there is no brood the
bees that we need to survive the winter may have been badly affected by DWV
(see my Leamington Conference report:
http://www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/Newsletters/February2002.htm).
This why I believe that treatment with thymol
(http://www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/PENotes/VarroaTreatment.htm)
in August, just after the honey crop has been removed, is a far better
option - and my experience so far has proved this to be so.

Peter Edwards
[log in to unmask]
www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/

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