Lloyd wrote:

>I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but I am concerned about the
>use of chemicals in our bee hives, 'advice' given here and the possibility
>that it will be accepted as gospel

* The only advice I gave was to stay within the law. Not very radical, I think.

>Taking the objection to its extreme, one could take the position we should
>not stop using a very dangerous product  and substitute a benign product
>until the State tells us it is ok.  That is insanity.

* I never stated nor implied any such position. My argument is not between
coumaphos and oxalic. I merely suggested that one shouldn't be critical of
another who advocates following the regs. There are a variety of options. 

1) Don't treat and breed from survivors. 
2) Buy disease resistant bees and use them. 
3) Use mechanical controls like screened bottoms or drone freezing. 
4) Choose from "soft" chemicals on the market like formic or thymol. 
5) Coumaphos? I know of very few people using this. I would only suggest it
if nothing else worked. 

* Following this tiered approach is the essence of IPM

pb

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