Subject: Varroa again!

From: Kath <[email-masked]>
Date: 29 Apr 1996 05:29:22 GMT

Hello again.

I recently posted another article about the Varroa mite and recieved a 
heap of replies - THANKYOU to all that did - that were all very helpful.

I have decided to post again with a more specific lot of queries which I 
hope all you kind people can help me with .....  again!

1/  how has the varroa mite affected honey production and pollination 
services in the US?

2/  how have mitacide residues affected the honey and bees wax with 
reguards to production and sale?  

3/  What affect has all this had on consumers/sales in the US?

Thank you all again for reading this and hopefully replying to it.

Kath

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From: "Theodore V. Fischer" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 12:40:06 -0500

Kath wrote:.
> 3/  What affect has all this had on consumers/sales in the US?
1) Varroa has almost wiped out feral bee colonies, and that of many 
beekeepers as well.  From my personal experience, those that are left 
have produced record crops the last three years.  I suppose that it is 
because of the lack of competition.  Overall, though, production has 
declined somewhat in the US.  I don't do pollination, but I understand 
that because of the lack of feral bees, pollination services are much 
in demand as well.

2) When used properly, there should be no miticide residue in the 
honey at all.  Fluvalinate ( in Apistan) is not water soluble, and can 
only be spread to mites by direct bee contact.  The strips must be 
removed before honey supers are put on the hive, and can only be 
reinstalled again after the honey is harvested.

3)  To my knowledge, no effect.  Honey prices to the producer are up. 
This may be partly due to mite depredations, but more likely are due 
to overall world supply/demand conditions.