Ron Bogansky said:

> Dewey Caron reported that resistant colonies that were then treated
> with Check-Mite had the greatest level of mite kill in the first 2-3
> days of application. I realize that the idea of treatment length is
> to get at mites that are still in brood cells when they emerge.

> why not use the strip for a shorter period of time killing most of
> the mites and knowing that there will still be some infestation,
> but reduced?  This could be timed with a period of minimal brood
> production.

Once one starts doing things like making up one's own pesticide label
instructions, where does it all end?

If beekeepers want to chant "the label is the law" in regard to
pesticide use by growers, they should not consider "getting creative"
themselves.  The chant is a good one, and the moral high ground
behind it has yet to have been questioned.

In studies, it is quite common to do a "24 hour" Apistan test as
a "standard" way of estimating mite populations.  In some cases,
this is done as often as weekly.  As a result, there should be a
good data set to prove that these "24 hour tests" were never
effective in themselves at controlling varroa.  If they were
effective, the act of counting mites in control (untreated) colonies
would eliminate so many mites that one's control colonies would no
longer be "controls".

I wonder if there is anyone doing similar "24-hour tests" using
Check-Mite.  If there is, this may be a hint as to how effective
a short-term application of miticide might be.

And I'm not going to even try to think about how many 48-hour uses
of any one miticide strip would equal one "use" of a strip, but
I don't think anyone could resist trying to use them in more than
one hive for this sort of "short-term use".  I've also yet to see
a "buy one, get one free" promotion on any miticide.


        jim ("Buy one, get one free?" - Yeah, sure -
           I've yet to receive my "Free Nelson Mandela"!)

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