> A lot of colonies die in
> January, and a tremendous number of beeHAVERS tell the world "it was a bad
> winter, and it killed my bees".  If the true is known, the winter did not
> kill the bees, the tracheal mite did...

Perhaps I am wrong, but my understanding is that few people bother to treat for
TM any more and that most North American bees seem to have adjusted to this
parasite.  I was under the impression that tracheal mite (TM) is not much of a
problem any more.  FWIW, I have personally *never* treated for TM, although have
had TM for many years now in thousands of colonies.  We do monitor the levels
periodically, as curiosity; otherwise we never think of TM.

> However, the ONLY POSITIVE treatment for tracheal mites, and it DOES KILL 99%
> of all the mites WHEN IT IS USED AT THE CORRECT TIME, is MENTHOL!

In Canada, some beekeepers treat for varroa with formic, and it has a strong
effect on TM as well.  In fact, it seems to me that it rates about with menthol
for efficacy in many environments.  I have heard of some using menthol in the
past, but am not sure if anyone bothers anymore.

>       The guy pushing hard on FOOD GRADE MINERAL OIL is a Norfolk Dentist...

If this refers to Dr. Rodriguez, AFAIK, he is a veterinarian.  There are other
advocates of oils for *varroa*, including a number of Europeans (They tend to
prefer vegetable oils). One is  John Iannuzzi <[log in to unmask]>,
who said here on Fri, 30 Jan 1998:

>>>...I don't used grease patties or menthol, the standard treatments for
T-mites. I do use a paper towel saturated with the cheapest veggie oil out
there, placed between the two deep brood chambers, 1 sep and a week later. Have
been doing this since the appearance of T-mites about ?ten? years ago. My
results are the same as or better than those who use the standard treatment,
acc/to my inquiries. IT'S ALSO CHEAPER!!! has advocated using paper towels
drenched in cheap vegetable oil and placed on the top bars for TM...<<<

I personally have no idea whether this works or not, but it does seem to be a
fairly popular practice and he gets as good or better results as I get using
nothing.


>       My advice to you is SIMPLE.  Remove all your supers by August 15th, and
> the put 50 grams of menthol on the frame top bars of the lowest brood
> chamber, and your tracheal mites will be killed for 1999.

If you did that here, you would also kill an important honey flow and plug up
your bees too early. I guess that TM is like many other bee matters.  Where you
live and other factors may have a huge effect on what works best for you.

If TM concerns you, as George indictates, the best place to start is with a
microscope to determine if you have a problem.  After that, a decision has to be
made.  If levels are over 10%, then some form of treatment *may* be indictated,
but be aware that the treatments are not entirely harmless to the bees.

These matters and treatments have been covered here in detail and can be found
in the logs.

Being pro-active is a good step to help your bees withstand stresses like mites.
Be sure they get pollen and nectar or feed supplements and syrup during their
active season and good stores for the off-season.  Selecting a good location
that naturally provides good foraging, as well as shelter from wind without
being damp, is one of the best measures you can use to care for your bees.

allen