Geo Imirie wrote:
> I install Apistan on October 1st, and DEFINITELY remove it by December
>1st to avoid any chance of causing mite resistance to Apistan.

        In the temperate or perhaps sub-tropical climate of Auckland, New
Zealand, I tried the corresponding timing (S hemisphere  -  autumn, corresp
to USA 'fall' as recomm by Geo).
        The v vigorous colony into which I put the first Apistan® I'd ever
seen was my pride & joy  -  a lovely combination of hard-working and
mild-mannered, bred by a decade of Pauper's Splits, achieving net storage
over what we are pleased to call winter and readily clocking up 60lb honey
in 10d off a big pohutukawa 80m away.  I had offered this colony to the
govt bee experts to take to a varroa-free island of our country for
possible use later for breeding; they never replied.
        This colony entirely died out well within the period Geo suggests.
This mini-catastrophe cannot be interpreted with any accuracy; indeed these
simple facts don't prove anything against Apistan®, but I don't mind
admitting that this horrible event produced in me an irrational dislike of
Apistan®.
          One inference might be to reinforce Geo's excellent point that
the effects of medicaments are generally T-dependent.  Our autumn may well
be warmer than his.

R