Hi Jennifer, I have constructed a bee hive from walnut lumber that I am currently using this year. I installed bees from a locust tree that came from about 30 miles away. This hive swarmed a couple of times that I know of and I caught each one. I varnished the hive so it might be the heat that caused it to swarm, being dark walnut. I am in a area with mites, in Missouri. I have used Apistan this spring and mineral oil this summer but will try to do without next spring. This would be interesting research because I have plenty of walnut lumber on hand. My neighbor also has a bee hive in a walnut tree that has been there for two years which had many bees this year. I will try to catch swarms from it next spring and determine if it had mites. Will keep in tuch and let you know how this goes. Bob K-B Ranch Natural Beef 2362 St. Rt. O Higbee, MO. 65257 [log in to unmask] On Mon, 28 Jul 1997, Jennifer Louise Pehanich wrote: > Hello. My name is Jenn Pehanich, I am a senior at the Penn State > University majoring in Forest Science. This summer I am working at our > Forest Resources Lab and agriculture extension office. We received a > call from the regional honey bee inspector who had an interesting > question we are trying to find information on. This gentleman has found > a colony that appears to be free of mites, he is currently checking to > be positive. But the interesting thing is the colony is in a black > walnut tree. We were wondering if the toxins in the walnut have some > effect of why the mites haven't got to the bees yet. If you have an > information it would be greatly appreciated. Maybe some ideas could be > tossed around also. Thank you for your time. > > Jenn > <[log in to unmask]> >