Hi Allen and All recipients:
I have become accustomed to look for your "two and a half cents (Canadian
$?)" worth of comments. Your comments are not only right on the money
(informative) but also you are very prone to provide useful advise. Please
allow me to thank you for your kindness and willingness to offer
assistance( before I go on to explain some of your queries).
1. I slacked on sending contributions to the list in an effort to keep
other subscribers who may not be interested in my work from becoming upset
at me.
2. I continue to offer my findings (gladly) to "new" subscribers and to
anyone who asks.
3. I always ask for input from those who correspond with me about their
impressions and self findings.
4. I am receiving mixed results from the field. Some have reported
failures and disappointment.
5. Personally, I think that people were expecting a "miracle" cure, and
expected to wipe out the mites immediately. Others, perhaps, have not read
the files carefully enough, and hence have not followed my instructions
carefully. Those that do not follow my warnings will most likely do a
disservice to themselves and to beekeeping especially at this stage when
this procedure is in its initial stages and individual failures can be
construed as general failures.
6. I continue to pursue my line of work, because I visualize this
procedure (or variations of it) as a very effective method for the control
of bee mites (I have found that it works very well for both!).
7. Recently I have been able to obtain a source of FOOD GRADE MINERAL OIL
at very reasonable prices. I will post the address and contact on a
separate post to the list after I send this post. The reason: I consider
that information too valuable to have it "lost" in the contents of a
lengthy post as this one.
8. I have had reports from all parts of the World, and some users swear by
it. In my own experience, I continue to have excellent results, with the
mite population very low. I am finding that it is "rather difficult" to
keep clean colonies perhaps due to re-infestation from other (non treated)
sources.
9. I stopped treatment in four colonies (using them as controls), all
perished by the end of the summer. Mite count soared from barely 2% to as
high as 80% capped cells. Unfortunately, those served as sources of
re-infection for my treated hives. Lesson learned: Varroa mites have an
immense ability not only to multiply within one colony but also to invade
adjacent colonies (and I am sure far beyond).
10. I have donated my services, time and oil to some local beekeepers with
a few hives who have expressed their desire to try the method. None of
those have lost any of their hives to mites!
11. I continue to think that MO has great potential for commercial
beekeeping as well as for the hobbyist, hence I continue to prove for ways
that might make this procedure cost effective and less labor intensive. A
fellow bee-L subscriber suggested that I should use cordage for dispensing
the oil within the colony but I have not been able to locate the one that
he has suggested. I continue looking for it to try to incorporate
"cordage" to the "dispenser" in a combination that may achieve the purpose
of cost effectiveness and to lessen the labor.
12. I have not tried other forms of oils. I believe that FGMO is
advantageous over other forms of oils (tasteless, odorless,
non-contaminating, does not breakdown by bacterial action, very economic!)
etc. And, because it is not economically feasible for me to delve into
other areas.
12. I have not found that mineral oil is harmful to the brood, queens, and
adult bees if used as directed.
13. I did not detect FGMO in honey harvested this summer (or any other
time). Remains to be seen if future quantitative analysis will reveal its
presence in the honey. My guess is that, yes, it should eventually show in
the honey if sufficient quantitative analysis were to be performed.
However, this factor should not be cause for alarm based on the fact that I
have treated my colonies profusely (trying to determine lethal dosage) and
yet I have yet to see MO in the honey. I know that eventually, IT SHOULD
TEST (+), and that is why I insist on using Food Grade MO, because it is
medicinal! I would much, and do, prefer traces of FGMO in honey than
pesticides and antibiotics. Extensive use of Food Grade Mineral Oil in the
medical field and in food industry has not proved to cause any harm to
recipients. By contrast, the same cannot be said about pesticides.
That said, I continue to trust FGMO as a product with great potential for
the treatment of bee mites, hence my efforts continue in that direction.
Hopefully, someone will find a commercial application for it in the near
future.
In closing, I would like to reiterate that I am always available to answer
questions from those who write to me, and that I will continue to pass on
(most likely through this means) the results of my efforts in this area.
And, YES, please do continue to send me input about your experience with
MO.
Best regards.
Dr. Rodriguez
Virginia Beach, VA
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