From guya@ncatfyv.uark.eduFri May 24 21:47:05 1996
Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 14:56:07 -0500 (CDT)
From: Guy Ames <guya@ncatfyv.uark.edu>
To: Ronald Nigh <danamex@mail.internet.com.mx>
Cc: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu
Subject: Re: Varroa mite control

> 
> Dear Sanet users,
> 
> Is anyone working on a non-chemical approach to varroa mite control for
> honey production.??? So far two insecticides have had to be "retired" from
> use due to toxic residues in the honey. Much of the little literature we've
> been able to find seems to assume that insecticides are the only control.
> Have there been any results on possible biological control agents,
> management practices or other approaches? Thanks.
> Ronald Nigh
> Dana Association
> Mexico
> danamex@mail.internet.com.mx
> 
> 
Nicholas Calderone (Bee Research Lab, USDA-ARS, Bldg. 476, 
Beltsville Agri. Res. Ctr. East, Beltsville, MD 20705) and 
Marla Spivak have found that a combination of 75% thymol, 18% 
eucalyptus, 3.5% L-menthol, and 3.5% camphor is "highly
effective in controlling V. jacobsoni.  Two applications 
of test material resulted in an average mite mortality of
96.7%."  However, thymol, itself, can be stressful to bee
colonies, so Calderone cautions that further research is necessary
to fine tune the recommendations according to conditions, size
of hize, severity of mite problem, etc.

Citation:     
Calderone, Nicholas and Marla Spivak.  1995.  Plant extracts
for control of the parasitic mite Varroa jacobsoni (Acari:
Varroidae) in colonies of the western honey bee (Hymenoptera:
Apidae).  Journal of Economic Entomology.  Vol. 88.  No. 5.
pp. 1211-1215.

(You'll probably want to consult this article for the methods
section to see how they "delivered" the thymol blend to the hive
or write Dr. Calderone.)
 
eucalyptus oil, menthol, camphor, and linalool

From danamex@mail.internet.com.mxSat May 25 21:54:16 1996
Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 21:57:12 -0600
From: Ronald Nigh <danamex@mail.internet.com.mx>
To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu
Subject: Re: Sustainable Varroa mite control 

>X-Sender: wgysi@mail.awinc.com
>Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 09:06:54 -0700
>To: Ronald Nigh <danamex@mail.internet.com.mx>
>From: Werner Gysi <gooly@mail.awinc.com>
>Subject: Re: Sustainable Varroa mite control 
>
>Hi Ronald,
>I have heard many reports of Apistan resistant bees in the south of
>Switzerland due to missuse of the chemical. It seems to be always the case
>that somehow it turns sour. This is why we practice farming with only
>natural products and if possible things we do not have to buy or are readely
>available, to maintain our independence and fredom.
>
>I hav not figuered out how to send a message to sa-net and therefor answer
>your request directly to you as good as I can.  Please feel free to put this
>information out for others to read.
>I have kept bees for 17 years and 15 years of it in Canada. While in Canada
>I did never use any antibiotics or other chemicals but fed my bees with
>herbal teas. I do not have any problems with nosema and had one outbreak of
>AFB. Three years ago a beekeeper spilled some honey while traveling around a
>sharp bend in the road nearby. That was enough to spread it. But we burned
>all the frames/bees that were infected and torched out the boxes etc (AFB
>spreads by the honey, pollen and brood). With this method we have
>encountered no further problems. We however also recycle all our own beeswax
>and with this no spores are carried in via sources from outside. I have a
>VHS video about how to recycle beeswax from a to z. Nosema was never a
>problem with the method we use to keep bees. We have had no varroa mite yet,
>even though they are all around us now. The tracheal mite has been detected
>this year but on a rather low level and with no impact at all (maby due to
>the climate). 
>About Varroa:
>We consider to use the following methods if mites would be detected in the
fall:
>In the early spring (before to much brood is available) using thyme- and
>sage- essential oils we would spray the colony using 1% thyme and .5% sage
>oils. It needs 10 ml per colony and is sprayed into the hive with as fine a
>nozzle as possible (as it is an oil). The oil should be 35 degree C. It
>sould take about 1 minute to spray one colony. This treatment has to be
>repeated 3 times in intervals of 3 to 4 days. This method has been used in
>France and I have this information from the beekeeper journal
>"Schweizerische Bienenzeitung", April 4/91.
>In spring, when the dandelions flower and the spring management is due we
>remove the 2 drone frames put in last year and replace it with a 1" cut off
>comb. This will allow them to build more drone cells and to produce two more
>frames of drone brood. Varroa is attacking mostly drone brood. After about
>30 days this brood is checked and if infested, cut again. 
>
>However formic acid at a 60% concentration (the secretion from the ants)
>used in Switzerland has been very effective and easier to apply. A higher
>concentration is used if applied at the bottom of the hive (85%). They use a
>"Kraemer Platte" (the name comes from the guy that did the first commercial
>products) which is a plate that soacks up the formic acid and is then
>wrapped into plastic foil and holes drilled into it. It needs as many holes
>as to evaporate 7g per day. the plate is placed on top of the frames. This
>has been found to be enough to kill the mites up to about 95% success per
>treatment done in the fall (or right after the removal of the honey and one
>about a month later). Day temperatures need to be above 20 degree C. Some
>also use honey jars or similar with the liquid in it and a linen pulled
>through a slot in the lid to soak out the liquid for evaporation. All this
>is put above the frames, about 3 to 4 cm away from the 1st frame. I would
>think above the hole on the inner cover would work fine, using an empty box
>atop the inner cover to provide a space. As I understand formic acid also
>removes tracheal mites. It is recommended that you use rubber gloves and eye
>protection.
>
>Oxalic acid is another substance that could be used in a 3% solution. Oxalic
>acid is naturally in the honey. Rhubarb leaves have a .8% content in their
>leaves. I speculate to do some experimenting on that, extracting the juice
>from the leaves and to apply it to the bees at the time the  leaves are
>available. Also spinach has oxalic acid in a natural form but is available
>later in the spring only. This is what makes your tounge rough when you eat
>to much of it. I have no experience on  the effect on the mite. 
>
>I also heard that there are varroa resitent bees in Africa or the far east
>available for warmer climates, which would suit you just fine. You may want
>to investigate on that on the Internet and sa-net. 
>I hope to be of help and may hear from you again. It sounds like you have a
>lot of challenging things to do in Mexico. Please let me know where you are
>located and what you are doing? Please feel free to call up my homepage
>http://www.jetstream.net/business/gooly if you like to find out more about
>us and my book "Harmonic Farming: a love style". 
>
>Werner M.Gysi
>
>At 05:41 PM 5/22/96 -0600, you wrote:
>>Dear Sanet users,
>>
>>Is anyone working on a non-chemical approach to varroa mite control for
>>honey production.??? So far two insecticides have had to be "retired" from
>>use due to toxic residues in the honey. Much of the little literature we've
>>been able to find seems to assume that insecticides are the only control.
>>Have there been any results on possible biological control agents,
>>management practices or other approaches? Thanks.
>>Ronald Nigh
>>Dana Association
>>Mexico
>>danamex@mail.internet.com.mx
>>
>>
>
>
>
Ronald Nigh
Dana Association
Mexico
danamex@mail.internet.com.mx

From hansonde@ccmail.orst.eduMon May 27 19:01:13 1996
Date: Mon, 27 May 96 09:02:52 PST
From: "D. Eric Hanson" <hansonde@ccmail.orst.edu>
Cc: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu
Subject: Re: Varroa heresies

On May 27 you wrote:
>  Anyway instead of feeding, drenching and dosing bees with highly 
>     commendably natural products, which incidentally continue the same 
>     treat the symptoms mentality, why not surround the beehives with plant 
>     producing those compounds so that the bees can harvest them 
>     themselves? To simple and cheap I suppose.
>In New Zealand we have many very healthy wild colonies. The stress of 
>     feeding with syrup and excessive harvesting does make commercial hives 
>     susceptible to a wide range of diseases, but that is also true of 
>     sheep, cattle, poultry, pigs etc.. etc.. 
>     
     
Just to show you how unorthodox your viewpoint is, consider this paragraph 
from the April issue of APIS, the Florida Extension Service Bee Newsletter 
by M.T. Sanford:
     
>     It is clear that a new kind of honey bee management is 
>emerging from the parasitizing effects of the Varroa bee mite. 
>Two kinds of beekeepers can now be identified; those with 
>experience "before Varroa," and those who began apiculture "after 
>Varroa."   Persons in the latter category cannot appreciate the 
>relative laissez-faire beekeeping possible in the past.  This 
>state of affairs is also being reflected in the bees themselves. 
>No longer able to exist in large numbers in the wild, these 
>insects are being pushed toward a greater reliance on humans that 
>can only be called "domestication.
?!!!
However, I think that your idea of planting some of the plants whose 
botanical preparations have been found effective in the vicinity of hives is 
a good idea. I also subscirbe to the the notion that general ecosistema 
degradation (inadvertant or deliberate--remember I live in a "low-intensity 
conflict" zone) is behind many of our pest and disease problems*. Or as 
Fukuoka taught us, must of the problems of agriculture have their root in 
agricultural practices themselves. Regards, Ron.
Ronald Nigh
Dana Association
Mexico
danamex@mail.internet.com.mx
     
     *Good point!  This degradation is the "manifest destiny" of food and 
     fibre production systems that rely on simplifying ecosystems both 
     spatially and temporally.  Most agricultural systems in the 
     "developed" countries maintain communities in an annual state of 
     disturbance.  This is not bad for the short-term, ala shifting 
     agriculture, but does have serious consequences over 50 years.  
     Allowing succession to enable a community to develop and recover after 
     a short period of intensive disturbances may be a viable alternative. 
     Forestry in the US is also adopting this agricultural paradigm of 
     relatively short series disturbances.  It to will similar 
     consequences, I suspect, but because of the time scale involved, they 
     will take much longer to appear and be far more catastrophic when they 
     do so.
     
TTFN - Eric Hanson
Dept. of Forest Science 
Oregon State University 
Corvallis, OR, USA 97331
(541) 737-6083
hansonde@ccmail.orst.edu


