This came to me from another list. I am placing it on this list for
comment. I am a skeptic of both miracle and academic cures so what is the
consenus?.
From: lowly
Date: Sun, 18 Aug 1996 01:45:52 -0700
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Mint Oils May Save Honeybees
By David Sharp
.c The Associated Press
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Aug. 17) - The nation's honeybees may be saved from
mites by spearmint, wintergreen and peppermint.
The natural oils have proven to be more than a folk remedy in killing and
controlling bloodsucking mites that have nearly wiped out wild honeybees,
according to a West Virginia University entomologist.
"We're close to eradication where we can knock them out totally," said
James Amrine. "We're going to continue working in that direction: total
eradication."
The proof, Amrine says, is in 46 honeybee colonies treated about 60 miles
east in Cumberland, Md., where applications of wintergreen have produced
the healthiest honeybees in years.
"There is no doubt those bees are almost back to where they were before
these mites came into this country," he said.
The mites, which entered the United States 12 years ago, have destroyed 90
percent of wild honeybees, researchers say.
And commercial and hobbyist beekeepers last spring reported average losses
of 50 percent in 22 states surveyed by the Georgia-based American
Beekeeping Federation, said Troy H. Fore Jr., executive secretary.
The harsh winter contributed to losses, especially in northern tier states
like Maine, which reported 80 percent losses.
Herb Hanscom, a blueberry grower in Machias, Maine, said growers paid
dearly to get their crops pollinated because beekeepers did not want to
bring their remaining bees to Maine.
He and other growers were disappointed with the quality of bees that did
make the trip.
"As near as we can tell, the hives did not have as many bees in them,"
Hansom said.
The disaster follows a continual weakening of honeybees since the mites
appeared in the mid-1980s.
The original invader, the tiny tracheal mite, crawls into the breathing
tubes of bees and lives off their blood. The varroa mite, the size of a
small tick, attaches to bee adults and developing eggs and lives off their
blood, weakening and killing them.
In Cumberland, Bob Noel stumbled upon his natural oils remedy when mites
struck his colonies last year. He put wintergreen oil in a
hamburger-patty-shaped mixture of shortening and sugar, then placed it in a
hive.
"I said, "Well, they're dying anyway.' I came back a couple of days later
and there were no mites on the bees. There were several thousand (dead)
mites on the bottom of the hive," he said.
That inspired tests of natural oils like tea tree, pennyroyal, patchouly,
spearmint and peppermint. Noel also plans to try lavender. He thinks most
mint oils will work.
Amrine was skeptical, but he could not argue with the results. Noel's
honeybees are healthy and producing up to 150 pounds of honey for the
season in each hive.
"Most of the beekeepers around the United States would be envious of his
hives," Amrine said.
Research currently centers on the most effective way to apply the mint oils
to the bees.
Amrine said one of Noel's more effective methods consists of putting a
greasy salve of wintergreen on a "tracking strip" that comes into contact
with bees. And Noel is working on an advanced version that is constantly
replenished by a feeder.
Another method involves a mixture of sugar water and mint oils the bees
drink when flowers are not producing nectar. Then there are the so-called
"grease patties," which are placed in hives.
Under the systems, the bees come into contact with the messy mixture and
ingest it when they clean themselves. During winter months, they will
consume the grease patties to get the sugar.
The mint kills and weakens varroa mites and renders them unable to
reproduce, Amrine said. Tracheal mites get trapped in the oil and die
because they cannot get into bees' breathing tubes, he said.
Amrine is so confident in the preliminary findings he has posted the
formulas on the Internet so beekeepers can begin using them.
Anita Collins, a research geneticist at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's bee research lab in Beltsville, Md., said the research into
natural oils is important because mites have developed resistance to the
only pesticide available.
The oils, if effective, might be preferable to traditional chemical
pesticides.
Meanwhile, scientists are continuing the lengthy process of developing
mite-resistant bees. But Ms. Collins said she cannot blame beekeepers for
tinkering with the mint oils in the interim.
"There's a lot of them who have lost bees and they're ready to try
anything," she said. "The other choice is to lose their bees."
<---- End Forwarded Message ---->
Don Bowen [log in to unmask]
Valley Center, CA Senior Software Engineer
Bee Point acres Smith Automation Systems, inc
USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 21 [log in to unmask]
33 16' 04 N 116 59' 19 W
organic gardener, woodworker, beekeeper, reader
1936 Farmall 12 1966 Corvair Corsa 140 Convertible
1 wife, 3 kids, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 2 acres, no TV
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