Hello Peter & All,

>Bob - that is a bit too broad brush for me!

The UK came along later and should not be included I suppose but have
certainly for the most part got on the Vita Europe bandwagon.

Italy was the source for most information when I sat through discussions on
what the industry in the U.S. Needed. First Fluvalinate & then coumaphos.
Each used by itself and one right after the other.

Even when the U.S. industry was pushing for a section 18 for coumaphos
reports were of wax contamination and coumaphos resistant mites in less than
three years from Italian sources yet the commercial U.S. beekeepers pressed
forward.

I see the wax contamination from the use of Apistan and then Checkmite to
brood comb as a serious problem. Reason I changed all my brood comb! Talks
by Jeff Pettis (Beltsville Bee Lab )and slides shown of the problem have
fell on deaf ears for most commercial beekeepers in the U.S.. Many continue
to spend money on every other aspect of their beekeeping operation rather
than cull those chemical contaminated comb!

For those which doubt what myself, Dee Lusby and Dann Purvis say about
uncontaminated comb set up an experiment next season.

Put a yard on all new comb and another yard on the comb you used chemicals
on for the last decade. I did! Then I went to replacing comb!

I could not afford both the time & money to do the replacement in a single
year so replaced over several years! I finnished last spring with help of
new drawn comb used only in supers I bought from the Bell Honey Farm sell
off.

> Certainly some in Europe have made big mistakes, but I am sure that you
know that it is not true that everyone here 'embraced the chemical quick
fix'.

Everyone in the U.S. did not embrace the chemical quick fix especially at
the start.

Dee Lusby helped pave the way. Forget small cell for a minute and look at
her philosophy..  Chemicals are a dead end street and only make 'super
varroa"!

Sure I have used chemicals as I make a large part of my living from
beekeeping! I did what I had to do to survive and paid the price (mostly
from contaminated wax and creating tough varroa through chemicals) but I
understood what I was doing!

All the while I was spending hour after hour trying to come up with a non
chemical solution. When I did I got off the chemical treadmill , replaced
wax and now am looking to a bright beekeeping future.

Back to Peter's comments:

I believe  its fair to say the chemical solution was the preferred method of
treatment both in Europe (with possible exception of the U.K. & Scotland) &
U.S.  commercial beekeepers.

Also both areas rode a single treatments into the ground before switching to
the second which they then rode into the ground.

Broad brush or not the above is a fair statement of the history.

Bob

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