Allen said:
However, for the Northern commercial beekeeper, it seems to me that
something a bit more effective, a lot quicker, and much less invasive is
needed.

And legal in the U.S.. Especially with the FDA using mass spec machines to
test honey without regard to cost of testing. Canada honey will be looked at
closely when entering the U.S.. Honey contaminated will be confiscated I
have been told.Contaminated will be any substance which is not approved for
use in the U.S.. Substances which are approved will have to be below the PPM
approved.

I was up late last night and finished dissecting and looking at through a
microscope a sample of bees from a 100 crashing colonies belonging to a
Missouri beekeeper. I did not find a problem.

The beekeeper today is installing Apistan strips for 24 hours to see if
coumaphos resistant varroa have arrived in Missouri (as per my
instructions). I will post results tomorrow so Missouri beekeepers can be on
the lookout if I verify coumaphos resistant mites.

What can the beekeeper legally use?

ApiLife var or sucrose Octanoate esters.

Possibly Apistan but the bees were still unaffected by fluvalinate in
testing in Missouri last year as far as a control. Actually Apistan is about
the only way this time of year to test for coumaphos resistant varroa.

"Checkmite" will most likely be the last chemical strip ever to be
registered in the U.S..

Control of varroa is going to get harder in the U.S. for the larger
beekeeper . Other countries using chemicals for varroa not approved in the
U.S. such as China and Argentina may have trouble getting honey through
customs checks. When the borders were wide open (prior to 2003)honey got
through. Not the case in 2003 and also for the next 2 years.

I have had two calls from larger beekeepers needing bees to fill pollination
contracts in California because something is wrong with their bees. Hives
are crashing. Bad queens from queen producers both said. Queen producers
were the first to get blamed in the late 90's when fluvalinate resistant
mites kicked a few large beekeepers operations back.

Lifting the lid and slipping in a chemical strip without testing before and
after installation is easy but costly when in the spring you find half your
hives are dead. Which is the way many beekeepers learned they had
fluvalinate resistant varroa. Will history repeat itself with checkmite?

Bob

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