Peter Borst wrote: "High smoke concentrations resulted in a typical and immediate reaction of the parasites : they left the bees, so that they were more intensively subjected to the smoke. -- Apidologie 14 3 (1983) 175-182"
Thanks, Peter! I wonder how much of the effect was from the smoke itself, and how much was from the chemical.
Burning staghorn sumac berries in a smoker has been highly touted (smoke is yellow, sulferous and stinks). Having done some simple sticky board tests, sumac against "regular" smoker fuel and cedar chips, sumac had a higher mite fall. It smells so bad, even the bees start leaving the hive.
But others have discounted the sumac and suggested it was the smoke.
Grant
Jackson, MO
*******************************************************
* Search the BEE-L archives at: *
* http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?S1=bee-l *
*******************************************************