Bob Harrison said:

I believe the OA did eliminate the varroa load to a point the test proved
nothing. What was the varroa load in each hive as the test started?

From my experiments:

I have a bee yard with 48 colonies in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. These
colonies were treated with CheckMite in Fall 2003. Efficacy at that time
was 95% (+/- 3)of mite kill based on samples of washed bees before and
after treatment. I left this yard without any treatment to grow mites
"Mite Farm". It has taken two years to bring the mite infestation to 14.6%
(+/- 3.8)in August 2005 samples. This time span for mite population
development, it should be considered in any strategy for mite control or
research plans. Although mite levels are under the thresholds for
treatment, I have seen that beekeepers keep bombarding the hives with more
chemicals to keep mites under control. Then results and conclusions are
mixed!!!

Having said that It is imperative to monitor mites' levels before and
after treatment to test cause and effect. In addition. If we are testing
cell size impacts on the development of mite infestation or population
dynamics, mites should be in the hives to test.

medhat


Medhat Nasr, Ph. D.
Provincial Apiculturist
Crop Diversification Centre North

17507 Fort Road
Edmonton, AB, Canada T5Y 6H3
Tel: (780) 415-2314    Fax: (780) 422-6096
Mailto:[log in to unmask]

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