Well, I think it is now time to lay claim to the exquisite piece of
journalistic prose quoted so beautifully below. <wink>  I wrote it
hurriedly from  a booth at Norfolk, using Dave & Jan's account.  They
wrote some pieces under that nom de plume and I wrote others, but that one
is mine.
 
I had thought by now that Dr. Pedro would have published the work, but
since that does not seem to be the case, I will tell you what I know. I
promised 'details later' here they are:
 
When some of us arrived at the appointed room at the appointed time, the
talk was almost over.  Dr. Rodriguez graciously backed up a bit and
recapped, then after finishing with the first group, went over his talk
again for the benefit of us latecomers.
 
In short, he had a huge slide blow-up of a varroa mite on the projector
screen, and pointed out the pores that dotted the surface.  He stated that
that was the weak point of the varroa mite that he exploited in his
treatment.  He also explained that he had been a veterinarian doctor with
the Spanish military and had seen the first varroa to arrive in Spain.
 
He pointed out that the mites used the pores to breathe and to manage
their water balance and that if the pores were blocked, the mites would
perish.
 
I conjectured at this point something I don't believe that he actually
stated explicitly, and that is this:  because of the relatively small size
of the mite compared to a bee, the mite's pores are sufficiently small
that a tiny glaze of oil would be drawn in and *held* by capillary
action in the tiny pores, while much much more would be needed to block
the larger openings in a bee.  (Also there may be a considerable
difference in respiratory action -- if a mite actually inhales).  Anyhow I
am guessing as to a mechanism here
 
He had a number of hives in his experiment -- the exact count escapes me
-- but it was a fair sized yard of bees that he divided into controls and
subjects.
 
The subjects were treated every two weeks with strips of ordinary kitchen
waxed paper about 2" wide and about 14" long that he placed across the top
bars of brood chamber frames.  Each 6-1/2" end of each strip he then
pushed down into the bee space between frames, using a hive tool.  I do
not recall how many strips he used, but there must have been about 10 per
box?
 
Before using these strips he prepared them at home by placing a drop or so
of food grade mineral oil on the paper, stacking the strips up, and
smoothing them so that the oil was pressed out in a very thin layer on
each surface of each strip. Moderation is important, since he also pointed
out that oil can also be fatal to bees if applied in excess.
 
After 2 weeks the strips would be dry and chewed, and he would remove them
and replace them with new ones.
 
After continuing this treatment for some time, all his control hives
succumbed to varroa, but the treated hives were fine.  Later, when he did
a 100 cell mite count at the end of the season, he could find *very* few
mites in the treated hives.  He said the mites were almost extinct at the
convention time, but he did not want to uncap all his brood (in January)
just to find a mite or two if any were indeed still there.  Apparently the
treated hives had wintered well.  I understood that he used *no other*
mite treatment during the year long experiment.
 
When we identified ourselves as BEE-Lers, he greeted us most
enthusiastically and we talked at length.
 
Last I corresponded with him, he said he is looking for a less labour
intensive method, refining his work, and intending to publish soon.
 
> Beekeepers at Norfolk <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
> >Essentially his method involves using stips of common waxed paper
> >coated with food grade mineral oil.  The strips are inserted into the
> hive andleft for two weeks at which time new strips are inserted.
> Details later.