Beekeeper since 1982.

[Wilco]

I still have varroa…..

Yes but do your bees?

 

[Moobee]

Yes but do your bees?

LOL! Wondered why I was a bit itchy…..

 

[blackcloud]

I mentioned this at the bee show at the Agricultural Centre. Mentioned it to the well known supplier of varoa treatment. He asked I keep it quiet otherwise they would loose trade.

I think he meant keep it quiet for the purposes of your own reputation.

Is this your guardian angel by any chance?

 

[JamezF]

LOL! Wondered why I was a bit itchy…..

A friend tells me you can get cream for that these days...

James

 

[rook66]

I mentioned this at the bee show at the Agricultural Centre. Mentioned it to the well known supplier of varoa treatment. He asked I keep it quiet otherwise they would loose trade.
I have used salt in syrup for the past 15 years. I did have the varoa mite but since using salt there has been none. So either try it or keep those treatment suppliers in work with their big profits!.
NB... use sea salt and not table salt. One spoon into 5 litres syrup. Mix it boiling hot.

Why boil, salt crystals will dissolve in co!d water?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Why boil, salt crystals will dissolve in co!d water?

Quite a few years ago I seem to recall someone joining the forum and insisting he/she had kept friendly bees for years and fed us all sorts of guff about his colonies and queens. He/she was finally called out as trolling after a particularly nonsensical post about the queen in one hive coming up to the top of the frame during an inspection then flying up to sit on his suit while he talked to it. Can't remember if the contributor left voluntarily or if a lifetime ban was involved.
Maybe I'm cynical or just suspicious of unverifiable claims and illogical responses?

 

[pargyle]

Quite a few years ago I seem to recall someone joining the forum and insisting he/she had kept friendly bees for years and fed us all sorts of guff about his colonies and queens. He/she was finally called out as trolling after a particularly nonsensical post about the queen in one hive coming up to the top of the frame during an inspection then flying up to sit on his suit while he talked to it. Can't remember if the contributor left voluntarily or if a lifetime ban was involved.
Maybe I'm cynical or just suspicious of unverifiable claims and illogical responses?

I rather doubt that anyone has ever been banned on here for what you suggest - probably got fed up of being pilloried for ideas that did not meet the perception of a few people on here who cannot accept that anything outside of the norm, put forward as a personal observation, is anything other than trolling.

There are lots of illogical things that happen in beekeeping and the natural world in general - by all means challenge and question when such ideas or observations are put forward - it's up to you whether you believe something or not but let's not question the honesty of the poster by suggesting they are all trolls.

 

[F.F.Stung]

Warwickshire.
At one time had 26 colonies but today just 6 colonies. A retired craft teacher so I make my own WBC hives, frames etc
If you have varoa forget the expensive strips and treat with a spoon of sea salt in 5 litres of syrup.

How much salt for 5 litres. I have many sizes of spoons

 

[rook66]

How much salt for 5 litres. I have many sizes of spoons

Dessert spoon, page 2, post 31

 

[JamezF]

In my view using words such as "If you have varoa forget the expensive strips and treat with a spoon of sea salt in 5 litres of syrup." is rather stronger than "putting forward a personal observation" and in the case of this thread I'd argue that the OP's behaviour throughout the rest of the thread is near identical to that of a troll.

More generally, it is very well understood that one of the weakest links in testing any hypothesis experimentally (that adding some proportion of salt to a syrup feed is an effective control for varroa in this case) is the people performing the testing. Without any intent and often completely subconsciously they can and do behave in all sorts of different ways that distort the results. Many, perhaps most, people don't seem to be aware of this. Designing experiments so that they test what is required and only what is required, eliminate potential sources of error such as those made by the experimenters, and can produce meaningful results is not easy, perhaps particularly so where medication is concerned. This is why control cases are important. It's why protocols such as double-blind testing are important. It's why peer review is considered highly desirable. And ultimately it's why you often need a good statistician to tell you whether the results you have couldn't reasonably be expected to have occurred by chance.

If someone doesn't understand that and doesn't understand why it matters then in my opinion they really shouldn't be just jumping into a forum and posting that they have an effective treatment for varroa and encouraging other people to try it.

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

In my view using words such as "If you have varoa forget the expensive strips and treat with a spoon of sea salt in 5 litres of syrup." is rather stronger than "putting forward a personal observation" and in the case of this thread I'd argue that the OP's behaviour throughout the rest of the thread is near identical to that of a troll.

He hasn’t been here since Thursday evening so he’s either got the hump or had his fun.

 

[Murox]

Gulling the gullible

 

[Anduril]

Using a VPN I have tried looking for the information about salt in France and Spain, considering the Pyrenees were mentioned and have come back with zero, zilch and nada.
However I did come across this:
https://www.beesource.com/threads/salt-to-kill-varroa.200458/
His bees died reading down to post 5

https://www.honeybeesuite.com/colony-postmortem-2/
Rusty came back with salt poisoning.