Will mites become resistant to oxalic acid?

[jenkinsbrynmair]

but it is in an extremely remote part of the country

 

[Just]

How many covid/ influenza/ polio/ and other vaccines have you had??

Musing over this thread, is it reliable to compare bee treatments with human vaccines, if I were to compare bees with a mammal would we need to consider reproductive rates and with it the adaptability rate of both species, similar to the rate at which the rat population has adapted to be resistant to standard rat poison. Rats could be considered similar to mites in that they are a vector for disease in humans.

 

[Beekeeperscottish]

personally, i think any beekeeper who thinks they either don't have varroa, or can eliminate all mites is very deluded. They do exist though. The only way to eliminate all varroa is to eliminate their food source - the bees, and prevent re infestation from the infected hive by robbing. No treatment manufacturer claims that their treatment is 100% effective in the first place. Treatment (however you do it) is about reducing the mite population to a level whereby the mite population does not reach a critical mass to impact the bees prior to the next mite treatment.

I thought the accepted number of different answers that you got from a group of beekeepers was at least n + 2

It’s about knowing your bees and managing as you see fit. I have hives I treat and hives I don’t, some years I don’t treat at all. The point is that to treat just for the sake of it is madness.

 

[Beesnaturally]

That is but one study and your 100 colonies in an apiary, would suggest highly concentrated numbers.

If I had that number in one place I would agree. For a few years I had between 60 and 100 colonies, in various stages of growth, decomposition (and thriving), in a locality of about 1 mile diameter. This was before I knew about wild bee suppression, which is, apparently, rather contentious. Its pretty obvious to me that it will be a multi-factorial game. And there is a counter - applicable to some places. Honeybees can quickly boost a seed bank to a remarkable degree - a benefit that continues for the entire ecology for a long time after.
These days I have about 30 (long-term thriver) hives in about the same, florally-rich area.

 

[Beesnaturally]

I don’t think most of us do that at all.
Those that treat do so once a year
( possibly with a winter Tx) and let the bees cope the rest of the time.
I do take advantage of brood-less periods in splits and swarms by giving them one vape but that is simply to give them a good start.

I think you have to decide whether what you are doing as a beekeeper is solely for your own sake, or whether you wish to moderate your impact on the local population.

If it is the latter, then treating lightly is quite likely a good way to do something important: that is: locate those with more resistance.

It is the next step that brings your actions into line with your aspirations: to make increase/requeen only from those which you have identified as showing the better levels of resistance.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I think you have to decide whether what you are doing as a beekeeper is solely for your own sake, or whether you wish to moderate your impact on the local population.

Indeed