In message <001f01c324c6$42708220$21ac58d8@BusyBeeAcres>, Bob Harrison <[log in to unmask]> writes >I predict when resistance to Apistan happens you will soon find fault with >thymol. The still effective Apistan treatment (U.K.) is making the thymol >treatment seem more effective in my opinion. I am in the area of the UK where mites are resistant to Apistan. A neighbour reported 4% efficiency tested by a Bee Inspector! I have been using Apiguard since autumn 2002. I treated the colonies with the most obviously high mite count and left the others. 7 had low counts and some had huge counts. I treated all but one colony, mostly 3 or 4 times. Mite falls have settled down now and all colonies have recovered or are recovering. In 3 cases, mite counts were "huge" (estimated at over 1000) after the 3rd treatment and not all dead brood had been removed, there were still bees with deformed wings and in one case shiny bodies (though not paralysed). It will be interesting to see the natural count once the treatment is over. I am hopeful! For what it is worth, I place my card with the paste on top, away from the brood nest. Last year, I found colonies hung out of the entrance to a degree and in one case (in a small box) chewed out all the brood and clustered outside like a swarm. On being given a larger box, they returned to normal. So I am adjusting the amount I give to the colony size as well. They do seem mostly to remove it within a week and in the majority of cases destroy and remove the card (let it drop through the mesh!). The purpose of the exercise was to discover those colonies that managed varroa best of all and breed from them. This is ongoing. -- James Kilty :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::