[NAFEX] treating bees for mites
William McNam
billmcnam at yahoo.com
Tue Apr 6 16:10:59 EDT 2010
Have any of you beekeepers tried spraying the frames with undiluted cooking oil--such as canola or olive oil?
This would suffocate the mites and their eggs while giving the bees a needed helping of fat.
Dormant oil has long been used to control mites on fruit trees,but it is a petroleum product (still perhaps less toxic than synthetic miticides or formic acid.)
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--- On Fri, 3/26/10, William C. Garthright <billg at inebraska.com> wrote:
From: William C. Garthright <billg at inebraska.com>
Subject: [NAFEX] A bad year for bees?
To: "NAFEX List" <nafex at lists.ibiblio.org>
Received: Friday, March 26, 2010, 1:48 PM
FYI, here's an article in the /San Diego News/ with the title, "Bees in
more trouble than ever after bad winter":
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/24/bees-in-more-trouble-than-ever-after-bad-winter/
or
http://tinyurl.com/yakrnrf
The first two paragraphs:
> The mysterious 4-year-old crisis of disappearing honeybees is
> deepening. A quick federal survey indicates a heavy bee die-off this
> winter, while a new study shows honeybees' pollen and hives laden with
> pesticides.
>
> Two federal agencies along with regulators in California and Canada
> are scrambling to figure out what is behind this relatively recent
> threat, ordering new research on pesticides used in fields and
> orchards. Federal courts are even weighing in this month, ruling that
> the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency overlooked a requirement when
> allowing a pesticide on the market.
>
Luckily, I had lots of honey bees around last year, so I'm keeping my
fingers crossed this year. I've been trying to establish a population of
blue orchard (or mason) bees in my yard, but I haven't had any luck.
Instead, I've been breeding tons of leaf-cutter bees, it seems.
Well, I'm glad to have leaf-cutter bees around, but they don't emerge as
early as the blue orchard bees - or even as honey bees, apparently (at
least, I usually see a few honey bees - only a few - around on my
earliest-blooming fruit trees).
Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)
http://garthright.blogspot.com/
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