> My impression from the ABF conference was that everyone has, in a sense, given up and we have now resorted to 'magic' I'm seeing a tremendous amount of the same. The difference between "magic" or "belief," and the scientific method is controlled trials to actually test for efficacy of the treatment, measured by some objective metric (mite count, frames of bees, weight gain, etc). One must compare the data for identical treatment and control groups kept in the same yard. That said, there is evidence that some essential oils have promise as either varroa, nosema, or viral treatments. The Europeans have tested many essential oils, some with favorable results, but many had either no efficacy, or were too toxic to the bees. I caution all to be careful with kitchen sink homebrews. Run a trial on two groups of at least a dozen colonies, for at least a full year, to see if there are apparent beneficial or negative effects. I'd hesitate using any homebrew formula that hasn't at least got that much data behind it. If you have such data, please let me know, as I would be very eager to compare it to published trials by other researchers. Randy Oliver *********************************************** 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 Access BEE-L directly at: http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L