Hi Jerry and Everyone, If I remember correctly, 2-hep, in small amounts, works as an effective bee repellant also. It's interesting to note that phoretic mites will drop off of bees when they become agitated. On another note, I have observed almost all of the touted benefits of using small cell comb, except mite tolerance, when I've put bees back into clean, large cell sized hives. Many of the benefits, such as better overwintering, spring buildup, etc. appear to be as related to the clean wax, as they do to cell size. Although, I know top bar hives aren't for everyone, comb can easily and rapidly be replaced in them. That's been one factor for my experimenting with them. While working bees commercially, it was common to find combs that had been in constant use for 30 to 50 years. It appears that feral hives are recycled about every 3 years or so. That might be a better lifespan for comb. And Maybe even less if a person treats bees with pesticides. Regards Dennis :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::