Dee Lusby has made many good points regarding withdrawal from chemical treatments to keep bees bandaged up to just stay alive.  Let's face it, chemicals do not restore health in the apiary, they forstal the problem to a later date when either the source of the problem overcomes the chemistry or the beekeeper isn't so diligent in applying the chemistry.
If one were to confuse beekeeping management strategies with religion, I would say that the dogma of beekeeping is the belief and faith in chemicals to restore health to beekeeping.  That faith is poorly placed and a source of ongoing problems in pest and disease management.
I have been abstaining from chemicals in my sideliner beekeeping operation for more than three years now - experiencing losses of just under 50% per year, typically.  If the weather had cooperated better with queen rearing and splitting, I would be able to maintain my colony count under these conditions.  My hope is to arrive at survivor stock genetics, care of God's greatest creation mechanism: natural selection.  Better genetics will survive and overcome.  The biggest problem and concern for my size of operation is that I may arrive at survivor stock, but in too small of a population of colonies to be a viable gene pool size.  I don't know, it is an experiment in progress.
 
Unfortunately, most commercial beekeepers can't afford to experiment with their livelihood.
Eric in Howe, TX


      

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