Bob -

You wrote:

> If a disease was killing all the chiggers and ticks in the world I would
not
> lift a finger to save the chiggers and ticks! Ticks are so bad this year I
> can sit in the bee truck and pull 10 or so off my bee suit after working
> certain yards.


Don't you have fire-ants in Missouri?  Down here in Louisiana we have lots
of them, and it seems that ticks and redbugs ("chiggers") are much less
common than they used to be.  Personally, I prefer fire-ants.

They may be taking out some new-hatched snakes too.  If so, good for them.

Walter Weller