Scott Plante wrote:
> If a desperate beekeeper in the southern states discovered he had
> heavy varroa loads in his hives. Would it not be wise, for him, to
> bring the hives up north to stop the brood rearing.  At that point
> treat with oxalic while the hives are broodless??

Thatb would depend on a lot of things.

Moving hives from one climatic region to another is not without its costs,
risks, and effects on the bees.   It can a logistical nightmare if there are
many hives involved, the distance is great, and the destination unfamiliar.
Moreover, stressed hives with large amounts of brood would be adversely
affected and losses are certain.  In severe cases, the losses could be
almost total.

On the other hand, there are methods that can be used on-site, anywhere.
They may not be as easy as opening a lid and inserting a strip, and they
will require consultation, education, experimentation, observation, and a
little expense, but they are likely cheaper and less risky than moving north
in Winter.

Again, the best solution is not to get into this state in the first place.
I've heard often of beekeepers who suddenly discovered they have massive
infestations, but NEVER of a beekeeper who was monitoring steadily,
conscientiously, and effectively who was unable to head off a critical mite
problem.

Montitor, monitor, monitor.

allen
A Beekeeper's Diary: http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/

And Backup, backup, backup.

A friend called me over the other day. His Hard drive had been slowly dying,
but he did not recognise the signs, and he had no backups either.  AFAIK,
everything on his drive was lost.  With  the current price of large external
USB drives, external hard drives, networked computers, DVD burners, and
Internet storage (like Yahoo! and Gmail), there in no reason to lose
important documents.

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