>
> >it seems to me that thymol and fumidil, are both strong fungicides that
> are placed in the hive by the beekeeper....and should raise the same red
> flags as agricultural fungicides.


This is a valid question.  So let's look at it.
I can't find any references whatsoever that indicate that fumagillin has
any fungicidal activity, other than against some microsporidians, which,
phylogenetically, appear to be descended from an early fungal ancestor, but
have little in common with the sort of fungi in beebread.

Dean, could you please provide us with any references that indicate that
fumagillin has any effect upon beebread fungi?  I have never seen any
reports of fumagillin treatment causing problems with beebread (not to say
that it doesn't have other negative side effects).

On the other hand, thymol is clearly a broad-spectrum fungicide.  So the
question is, does it have a noticeable long-term effect upon beebread or
colony health?

The effects of some of the syntheticic fungicides are easy to see: brood
mortality, entombed pollen , colony dwindling.  On the other hand, after
application of thymol treatment against mites, none of the above jump out
at me.  Has anyone else on the List noticed any effects from thymol upon
beebread?
-- 
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

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm