Hello Tom & All, Would I be correct in saying that if America had to face varroa again with the benefit of hindsight that America would not have used chemicals so liberally? I do not think one could say we ever used chemicals liberally. We started with amatraz and then those strips were pulled because of some dead hives in Florida (owned by a friend of mine which still says the strips were the reason the hives died around 150 hives I believe). We used fluvalinate (Apistan) then a relative safe and effective control for varroa which is still in use in areas. Those which had fluvalinate resistant varroa had little choice but to use the checkmite strips which were very effective. The battle to control varroa is on going and will get harder when the checkmite strips quit working in our area. Published results of 1998 mineral oil testing in Missouri I realize you have been a advocate of mineral oil but we ruled out mineral oil in 1999 after tests run in Missouri in the year 1998 under a grant by the Missouri department of Agriculture (S.A.R.E. program) using Dr. Pedro P. Rodriguez method had a complete failure. I do not think the results are available on line but are published in the 1998-2000 "Missouri Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Award Projects " book available from the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Heading up the project was a beekeeper/entomologist with two master beekeeper certifications (Matt Higdon),with help from the president of the Missouri State beekeepers ( Art Gelder) and Ray Nabors (a respected beekeeper which teaches beekeeping classes). Not room for me to put all details of the project in this post but will quote from Matt Higdon from page 24 of the above book: Though the results are disappointing , Higdon points out," The real value of the test is to illustrate that one must be skeptical of the many anecdotal reports and unsubstantiated observations that abound on the internet-no matter how well intentioned they may be" Instructions were gleaned from to quote from pg. 22 of the above book: "Much of this project is a follow-up to the recent work of a "Dr. Pedro P.Rodriguez', presumably a retired veterinarian in Virginia" I believe both Matt & Dr. Rodriguez are members of BEE-L so maybe they will comment. Bob :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::