On Sun, 18 Mar 2007 09:18:09 -0800, Mary Bull - Greenwood Earth Alliance 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>One solution is not to use any of these chemicals on the bees. Some bee
>managers--as in the permaculture approach to sudden oak death and human
>preventive medicine--advocate bucking up the health and immune system of the
>bees, in lieu of attempting to kill the virus. This approach seems the best
>to me.
>
>Cheers!
>
>Mary Bull, Co-director
>Greenwood Earth Alliance, Save the Redwoods - Boycott the Gap Campaign
>252 Frederick, San Francisco, CA 94117 http://www.gapsucks.org
>Chalice Farm and Sustainable Living Center, 748 Montgomery Rd, Sebastopol CA


thats a nice thought on a sunny day with a fancy cup-o- coffee in your hands and a back account 
with your latest paycheck. 

for the rest of us trying to make a living with bees, playing save the earth with our bees is a 
dangerous game. I say this because science and practical experience has shown that no 
intervention to a high mite load on typical bee stock (they are non native parasites) will cause an 
approximate 85% loss. 

some not all of the losses you read about in the media right now are caused by the lack of 
understanding of the relationship between the honeybee host and the parasitic mite and 
corresponding onset of natural viruses.

btw the chems are not directly used for the suppression of viruses but the varrora mites that cause 
the nontypical onset of viruses.  we are all made of chems, some kill  in small doses some in large 
doses. sometimes the form of the chem like carbon in a very small nanoparticle make the material  
deadly to humans  even though we are made up of carbon. 

better living through chemistry allows you to read this post on your computer. it also has provided 
the "sustainable" beekeeper with natural based treatments like thymol, oxalic and formic acids to 
be used in a prescribed and well researched manner. 

I agree with Lloyd and would add that the following link

(Eric Mussens latest newsletter)

http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/mussen/JanFeb2007.pdf 

has some updates about Marion Ellis's work at getting OA approved.

I don't understand the concern about OA when it has such a long and well researched history in 
the EU.  The EU also appears much further along the way in acheiving a sustainable honey bee 
industry and has more stringent regulations concerning what can be input into a hive.  

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