A lot of harsh exchanges on the Bee List recently.  No one likes to be
told,when all his bees have died, that it was his fault.  However, the fact
remains that we have had  the story of the mites relentless advance across
Europe in front of us for years.  In 1984 Roger Morse issued a warning to
America "spreading around the globe at a terrific rate----------expected to
infest all countries that have honey bees within a decade or two".  How
right he was.  In 1988 the mite was found in California and treated with
Apistan.  In 1989 it appeared in New Brunswick.  There the bees were
destroyed, a method already shown to be futile.  This should have set
warning bells ringing in every apiary in America and Canada and from then on
it was plain commonsense for every beekeeper to check his bees every six
months at least.
Here in the UK we had twenty miles of water between us and the rest of
Europe but we knew it would come.  We started educating our beekeepers in
1988, asking all to test for Varroa.  It arrived four years later and spread
rapidly.  Even now, another four years on, after eight years of education,
we are still getting reports of fifty to one hundred percent losses from
beekeepers who could not be bothered to check or treat, thinking, in spite
of all the evidence, that  it would not happen to them.  Most see it in
terms of loss of honey.  I see it differently.  The primary value of bees to
man lies in pollination.  Honey is secondary.  We can do without it but not
without pollinators and now we see the needless loss of millions.  Most
beekeepers do not expect thanks because they get their reward in honey but
for every colony they own they send out some twenty thousand pollinators to
cover some ten square miles of gardens, farms and countryside helping to
provide seeds and fruits for neighbours, farmers, birds and wild life
generally.  Wild stocks are disappearing as Varroa strikes them and soon our
local amateur beekeeper with four or five colonies in his garden will be
public benefactor number one supplying ninety or more percent of the
pollinators for miles around.
Someone wrote recently that the cost of treatment was too high.  Whether you
treat chemically, physically or biologically it involves expense.  A few
dollars, a few pounds represent the difference between an empty hive and
several full supers, a few cents or pence per jar of honey.  Another person
wrote deploring the use of chemicals in the hive.  I think we all do.  There
are alternative non-pesticidal treatments but at present none as effective
as Apistan.  Used sensibly and as instructed I think there is little chance
of seriously contaminating honey.  There are a lot of empty hives needing
restocking and every live stock is precious.  Knowing I have Varroa in every
hive I shall make a mite count in a week or so using Apistan, with a further
count every ten days through the six weeks the strips are in.  They will
come out and shortly afterwards the supers will go on.  From then on I shall
be drone trapping, dusting and spraying (all harmless to bees and honey) at
intervals through the nectar flows.  All honey comes off in mid-July after
which new strips go in.  Never economise on strips.  They are useless after
six weeks.  One day, when all the wild stocks are dead and beekeepers are
all treating and there is no fear of re-infestation from outside and with
mites reduced it may be possible to relax on the Apistan and let the bees
take charge.  Time will tell.              S H P
_________________________________________________________________
Sid Pullinger                    Email :  [log in to unmask]
36, Grange Rd                Compuserve:  [log in to unmask]
Alresford
Hants SO24 9HF
England