Bob said:
> SOE cleared the hives I used the product on of varroa. I got not one >
varroa on a 24 hour sticky board after treatment.

Allen asked:
Was a a chemical strip used during the 24 hr drop test?

Yes

Bob said:
> Dadant claims 100% varroa control. I do not know about 100%

Allen said:
NOTHING gives 100% without killing the bees too.

What I said to Dadant when I was first advised of the product .

  Their reply was if you wet the varroa with SOE the varroa will die so if
all bees with varroa  are soaked all varroa are killed.
The kill is similar to the way soapy water kills bees.
No bees will be killed  and none were in my experiement..

I said:
> but the control was above 90% in my opinion (wish I could give actual
figures!)

I can only say what happened in my usage this fall. Maybe I should have kept
quiet which was my original intent. Not one varroa on a sticky board in 24
hours does not indicate a 100% kill but I would say at least a 90% plus as
there could be from one to 300 varroa still in the hive or NONE. My bees are
very hygienic so perhaps they tossed a couple fallen varroa out the
entrance. I use a mixture of petroleum jelly on my homemade sticky boards
instead of the high priced DeWitt & IPM sticky boards used by researchers.
Dr. Sammataro told us last week we need to use the store bought sticky
boards, 8 mesh screen and always use controls if our testing is to be looked
at seriously by researchers.

Dr. Sammataro seemed unimpressed when I said the sticky boards & screens I
use  were paterned off a design I got off Allen Dick's web site.

Quote Dr. Sammataro from Missouri State beekeepers meeting:

"You can only believe about half of what you read on the internet".

I actually agree with her and say it can be hard to figure out which half is
the half to believe!

Take my experience for what it is . I know varroa was in the hives. I
treated as per label but the timing was off. No varroa on sticky board after
treatment.

Hopefully I will have the time to do proper testing in the spring. I see SOE
as another tool in the beekeepers arsenal but perhaps not a tool I would use
on a large number of hives because of the labor involved until a better
method of application is found..

I do like the safe aspect of SOE for the beekeeper, no worries about comb or
honey contamination, and low cost.

Bob's advice:
These days you should always test/treat early and test at end of treatment
period to see if your varroa control worked allowing for a different method
to be used in case the method you first chose was a failure!

Thanks for the reply Allen.

Bob

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