After further research, it was Apistan. The very first strips they came out
with, when mites first got started and nobody knew what was killing their
bees, were awesome and lasted like 2 years. That didn't make beekeepers have
to buy new strips nearly as often as would be desired by the shareholders.
Then they changed the material that the strips are made of. The first ones
resembled the material used to make those white flea collars. I'm definitely
not talking about the ones that had to be scratched and drove up the sales
of wire brushes. I'm glad you brought that up though. I'm still waiting on
my check to reimburse me for my death losses and profit loss due to their
negligence.
----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Truesdell <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, September 03, 1999 1:58 PM
Subject: Re: TOO much chemical talk


> John and Angie Partin wrote:
> >
> > I am talking about the first strip that came out. It's entirely possible
> > that it wasn't Apistan.
>
> I think you are talking about what happened about the time
> resistance was showing up along with a batch of strips that were
> not up to snuff. There was a lot of confusion as to what was
> happening and both resistance and strip quality were suspect.
> If I recall correctly, the suspect strips needed to be scratched
> and they were as good as new. But if placed in the hive without
> scratching, they were less effective. No conspiracy, only quality
> control, if that.
> Bill T
> Bath, ME