> >We treat bees, not boxes.  I assume that whoever wrote the label assumed
> that the aforementioned boxes were full of brood.  In fact, I have
> seldom seen more than ten frames of brood.
>

Jeez Allen, you are sure assuming a lot!  The manufacturers of Apivar are
not idiots, know how many frames of brood are in a typical hive, and have
15 year's experience with the product in Europe.

>
> >Killing the phoretic mites is a slam-dunk.  The mites hidden in brood are
> the difficult ones to get.
>

Not sure what your point is.  Amitraz doesn't penetrate the cappings, so
wouldn't be expected to kill the mites in the brood.

>
> >If the varroa density in the area where the the brood is about to be
> sealed is 5X to 10X that on the bees that are even a few frames away,
> why place strips anywhere else?
> I say, "if".  The only time I checked, that was the case.
>

You may wish to check again.  I have, but not a great deal more than you.
I have not find the difference to be anywhere as great as in your datum.

And why focus upon where brood is being sealed?  Why not hit the mites as
they emerge from sealed brood?

In any case, in my Calif colonies, we typically see brood across several
frames in both brood chambers.  So we're back to the manufacturer's
recommendations, determined by their experimental data and experience from
beekeeper feedback (and of course the desire to sell more product).

>
> >AFAIK, Alberta beekeepers use two strips, with a few exceptions, and
> have good efficacy, but perhaps due to the season, the bees are less
> spread out and the brood is in a smaller volume.
>

The four strip rate is admittedly high--I've heard anecdotally that two
strips per strong colony will do it, but I haven't seen the data.  We must
also keep in mind that "efficacy" is relative.  I can get by fine with a
50% efficacy if my starting mite rate is 4%.  The same efficacy if the
starting rate is 20% infestation would be disappointing.  In our long Calif
season, 20% is common is untreated hives by midsummer.

>
> >Of course you should follow the label literally to the letter.  It's the
> law.
>

The sarcasm and entertainment value of your posts aside, some of us follow
this List for usable information.  Unless you have data to back up the
2-strip application as being adequate for highly-infested colonies, the
reasonable default would be to go by the manufacturer's recommendation.

--
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html