Peter Borst [mailto:[log in to unmask]] wrote:
> ... I am constantly baffled by beekeepers who state simply that
> they will not use coumaphos. If fluvalinate fails to work after a
> while and you don't use something else, the bees die! Fortunately we
> have a much better alternative in formic acid, which should be
> readily available soon. But I would suggest we use every *legal*
> method to keep the bees alive.

I am perhaps the most vocal in the school "No Coumophos U" and have been
taken to task by many over my statement of "I will watch my bees die before
I use coumophos!".  I suppose I should clarify that statement a bit, and no,
I am not backing down.  I WILL watch my bees die before I use coumophos.  I
never cared for the chemical merry-go-around as Andy called it, but I am on
that merry-go-around;  TM treatments spring and fall (dust, no patties),
fumidil-B (2 gallons medicated syrup 2:1 in the fall if I can get my bees to
take that much and 1 gallon medicated syrup 1:1 in the spring) and currently
Apistan(R), spring and fall.  I'm simply drawing the line at coumophos.
There are a lot of alternatives to combat mites before resorting to
coumophos.  IPM is the hot topic in the industry these days.  Drone
trapping, queen confinement, screened bottom boards, oils of essence (which
I have not yet tried), and at long last the gel formulation of formic acid
will be available next season!  I suspect there may be some mite relief
associated with shook swarming too by breaking the brood cycle, although
reinfestation will be a problem.  Only after I have exhausted all the
alternative methods will I be forced to watch my bees succumb to the enemy.
A strategy currently being promoted is the possibility that you want some
hives succumbing to mites anyway - culls out the weak bees and propagates
less-than-super mites.

Aaron Morris - adamantly resisting coumophos' siren song!