> Both the above legal and already approved treatments  will provide
> suppression  of varroa mites and  would be harder for the hobby
> beekeeper to use than strips but time is of little concern to the
> hobby beekeeper. Now consider the time needed to apply the same
> treatments to around a thousand hives.

Maybe it is time for enterprising beekeepers, or others who recognise
the opportunity, to start up specialized services to deal with some of
these important, but time-consuming and distracting tasks.

It seems to me that mite detection and treatment presents an ideal
opening for young or retired beekeepers to do bee work that requires
little investment, equipment, or lifting -- on a custom basis.  Farmers
now hire ferilizer spreading, manure spreading, feed mixing, animal
healthcare, and many other chores; why should beekeepers not also use
specialists for some of their bothersome and somewhat technical tasks?
Beekeepers are often Jacks-of-all-trades, but maybe this has to stop
somewhere.

For the service I am proposing, the barriers to entry should be low.  It
seems to me that some education, a pickup truck, some sticky boards,
some microscopes, and some chemicals, etc. are about all that is
required to get started.  When we consider the fact that a specialist
should be able to do the job in a more professional, timely and better
documented fashion than someone who only does the job occasionally and
in a hurried fashion, sandwiched in with other apiary tasks, the
advantages seem to me to be obvious.

Seeing as any beekeeper already has supply, travel and labour costs, and
seeing as the specialist could likley get a purchasing advantage due to
volume and thus come in lower in terms of cost than the beekeeper
himself -- and obtain superior efficacy -- the specialist should turn
out to be very competitive in net cost, and leave the beekeeper free to
focus on the profitable aspects of beekeeping or to take some time off
to rest.

Would beekeepers employ such a service?  That is the real question.
Beekeepers tend to be parsimonious and also reluctant to allow others
into their apiaries.  Nonetheless, mite management requires timely
attention and up-to-date information.  A knowledge of what is happening
with other bees in the district can help in deciding what measures are
required and how soon.  I would think that an outside specialist could
do a superior job at a lower cost to the beekeeper.

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/

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