Thanks Beeman:
 
Hooray for Beeman who has come forward with a suggestion that a valid
experimental approach be made to the issue of mineral oil as a miticide.
Beeman's suggestion  (I'm extending it a bit) that a specific protocol
be written exactly  describing the procedure to be employed in testing
one or several alternative mineral oil application methods which could
be tried in comparison with untreated controls (or better yet, controls
that are treated with the best standardized treatment available today
(Apistan)). In this way, many beekeepers could join in the testing
procedures to determine, with scientific validity, just how effective
mineral oil is as a spray, as poured onto paper towels on top of the
frames, as oil poured on top of the frames, as soaked paper towels at
the entranceway, or any of a dozen alternatives.
 
Someone (or better a very small committee of knowledgeable people) needs
to write a concise description of what is believed to be the best
application method (or two) and then make this written protocol
available to all beekeepers who are willing to make a commitment to
faithfully follow the protocol for some specific period of time.
Control hives could be set up in the same apiaries.  Perhaps enough
beekeepers will join to give results which are statistically meaningful,
and prove once and for all whether (and how) mineral oil is effective as
a miticide. Anecdotal results obtained by small numbers of individuals
with small numbers of observations are not only usually meaningless,
they are dangerous in that they tend to separate people into camps of
'believers' and 'non-believers'.
 
This is the procedure used by the drug industry, FDA and NIH to
establish the efficacy and ultimately the treatment method for the drugs
on the legal market in the US today.
 
 
Dennis Cain
Rockville MD
[log in to unmask]
 
beeman wrote:
>
> Hi all, I have several different beeyards, and i am willing to try
> each
> persons method of appling FGMO to some of my hives at each location,
> if
> everyone that is using FGMO will send me email telling me exactly how
> they are applying it and how often the apply it and the time of day.
> please send it to [log in to unmask]   I will try each method and send in the
> results, i figure if someone doesn't find an answer soon we all may
> lose
> our bees, so i am willing to try different treatments, i will maintain
> a
> control group or a couple in each location. please send your
> application
> methods ASAP! THANKS in advance!!