From 73652.1202@compuserve.comFri Dec 6 23:14:49 1996 Date: 06 Dec 96 19:49:13 EST From: Patricia Dines <73652.1202@compuserve.com> To: BlindCopyReceiver: ; Subject: Bees, mites, Apistan, and alternatives Thought these responses might be of interest to you - P. Dines --- FORWARD --- From: robert Dixon, INTERNET:rdixon@citrine.cyberstation.net To: Patricia Dines, 73652,1202 Date: Fri, Dec 6, 1996, 7:48 AM Subject: varroa information and alternative controls Dear Patricia Dines: I have worked as an organic inspector doing honey inspections in northern Alberta Canada. The varroa mite was just a rumor at that stage but one beekeeper that had applied for certification moved his hives south to overwinter them. The law required that he use Apistan ( fluvalinate is the active ingredient) so I had to read up on this product. The information from Agriculture Canada said that it was a synthetic pyrethroid and as such it was extremely toxic to non target insects and also aquatic life. There were warnings about how to dispose of the strips after it had been used. The information from the governement also revealed that little study had been done about how it breaks down in nature, what it breaks down into and how persistent it is in the environment. It did not seem to me to be a very organic product for the above listed reasons. The varroa mite is a blood sucking parasite that originally came from the east as far as I know. It gets into the brood cells where it destroys the next generation and can spread very quickly within a hive. Beekeepers are advised to check their hives using Apistan strips to see if any show up before deciding to treat them. I have read that the African bee seems to be more resistant to the varroa mite because of it's aggressive grooming habit. An alterantive treatment for varroa is to use formic acid. There are several problems with this more environmentally benign product including possible damage to the queen bee and difficulty getting control because it evaporates too quickly in the hive. An interesting alterantive was mentioned in the recent issue of the Rachel Carson council newsletter # 88. -" Beekeepers in Cumberland, MD have been successfully reducing varroa mites in their colonies by using mixtures of wintergreen and spearment oils. Bees appear not to be adversely affected by the natural mint oils..."- The suggestion in the article is that bee foraging areas be seeded with some plants of the mint family so the bees can forage on them and take the bennefits back to the hive with them. Menthol is currently used to control tracheal mites in bees. === FROM: Jose Villa Apistan/fluvalinate is a pyrethroid (synthetic chemical with mode of action and properties similar to the pyrethrins in chrysanthemum). It is manufactured and marketed by Zoecon as plastic strips (about 1" x 8") with a small dose of active ingredient on their surface. They are supposed to be placed in hives during periods of no surplus honey production and removed after 45 to 60 days. Many times these guidelines are overlooked and hence the contamination of wax, possibly honey, and the rapid development of mites resistant to the compound. ... I work with the USDA-ARS in research with honey bees. There is a lot of concern and discussion among researchers and beekeepers about the misuse of miticides, development of resistance (is already documented in Europe), and contamination of bee products. If you give me your mailing address, I can send you some samples of what the discussions look like. Ultimately everyone hopes to have European bees that have similar resistance mechanisms to those of Asian honey bees. There is some progress in Europe and the U.S. in this area, but until then beekeepers will have to use some natural or artificial chemical to keep their colonies from dying.