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market-farming - Re: Beekeepers can't compete with Chinese

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Nancy Workman" <nworkman AT sound.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Beekeepers can't compete with Chinese
  • Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 20:46:54 -0500


>Another problem is the Bee mite which has decimated the
>honey bee population.



The USDA is in the process of releasing honeybees which are resistant to
these mites but it will take years for the commercial industry to recover.
And if the market for honey doesn't improve, it may not recover.

---
This came through another list I'm on. I thought it may be of some
interest.



>>Possibly Hopeful Sign

It may sound a little crazy, but a West Virginia
University entomologist says that the use of
natural oils - spearmint, wintergreen, peppermint
- can ward off mites praying on the wild
honeybees.

The mites, which entered the US 12 years ago, have
destroyed 90% of wild honeybees, and the losses
from harsh winters contributes to this. The
original invader, the tracheal mite, crawls into
the breathing tubes of bees and lives off their
blood. The varroa mite, the size of a small tick,
attaches to bee adults and developing eggs and
lives off their blood, weakening and killing them.

In Maryland a bee keeper by the name of Bob Noel
stumbled upon this natural oils remedy with
outstanding success. He put wintergreen oil in a
hamburger-patty-shaped mixture of shortening and
sugar, then placed it in a hive. A couple of days
later there were several thousand dead mites on
the bottom of the hive and the bees were healthy.
Now he's going to try lavender, and he thinks most
mint oils will work.

One of this beekeeper's most effective methods is
putting a greasy salve of wintergreen on a
'tracking strip' that comes in contact with the
bees. Then the bees ingest it as they clean
themselves. The mint kills and weakens varroa
mites and renders them unable to reproduce. The
tracheal mites get trapped in the oil and die
because they cannot get into the bees' breathing
tubes.

Now beekeepers around the country are trying it,
or closely monitoring others. Sales of natural
oils have increased, and so have the honeybees.
The oils, if effective, might be preferable to
traditional chemical pesticides. Sure would!! <<

Nancy
RiverCove Farm






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