Peter Indre from France stated his opion:
Commenting on being overwhelmed by mites due to re-infestation
- IPM by definition maintain population levels at or under damaging levels.
Beekeepers who do not keep their hives clean from my point of view should
not be allowed to keep bees!

Will here's mine for what is may be worth.
If you do not use 4.9 foundation you should do IPM.
The 4.9 comb elements the use of IPM, medications, labor to install them and
lets me go back to beekeeping.
I had near 500 colonies in 1996 when the mites hit Deming, NM USA.  I put in
meds, and lost bees.  I put in essential oils and lost bees.  My hives
numbers went down regardless of what I did.
Then I learned of the Lusby in Tucson, Az, USA and went and talked to them.
It took me another two years to decide they were on the trail of the kind of
beekeeping I wanted to do so I changed and lost more bees.  I went down to
less than 60 hives at the end of my collapse.  I now have near 100 again and
am looking forward to having my 500 back.
My bees have brood in them as of a week ago and I may loose some more but
this is working, for me.
I have not used any meds of any kind for over 3 years now and do not need to
use them.  I save in my pocket the expense of all the labor and money.
My troubles are not over and I do have mites and I do get AFB but at levels
that are not destructive to the hive.
So why should I go back to IPM or chemicals or other methods that just did
not work for me?????
Regards,
Lee Gollihugh, Sr.
Deming, NM, USA
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