> ...i'm sure it won't hurt to do it.
>... for inexperienced people trying to do the right thing, it may be a real risk to their hives.
In what way? I've always advocated measuring your success and not taking anything on faith.
> they won't have the experience to know when they are in trouble.
They will be in trouble if they don't monitor no matter what they do. Apistan has failed. Check mite has failed. Using chemicals is NOT a sure fire way to deal with mites.
>as for chemicals....lemmongrass can be broken down into chemical components.
Citral, Geranyl Acetate, Linalyl Acetate, Geranial, Neral, Limonene, Myrcene, Beta-caryophyllene
But all of these things are also in Nasonov pheromone that the bees make.
>is it a chemical?
Obviously water is a chemical, but in the context of this discussion the term usually means man made chemicals with complex interactions with the biological system. In other words pesticides or other things that have complex interactions with the biological processes of the target (and often collateral damge to everything else)
> OA, which is put out as a natural treatment for varroa, is a chemical.
Yes. But a rather simple one in it's effects. It's a simple organic acid. And I'm not currently using it.
> thymol is a chemical.
Which is derived from a plant, but would not normally be in a beehive unless gathered from thyme plants.
>do you use sunscreen? why?
Rarely.
> drink diet soda?
Never.
>give finskey a break. he's trying too point out that what you choose may have consequences with no proven benefit.
What consequences?
Actually he is belaboring a point in a forum that is dedicated to the concept he is criticizing. If I get on a Christian forum just to tell them how I disagree with their religion, it's not being helpful, it's being rude.
>people have been experimenting with it for some time with less than stellar results.
Perhaps you could point out who has had less than stellar results. No one I know personally has had less than success.
> it did not save the feral bees.
Funny, I'd say it's exactly what DID save the feral bees. I see lots of them.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesnaturalcell.htm#feralbees> if small cell were the answer, mites ought never to have gotten a foothold in the feral colonies.
Foothold? All the hives in North America have Varroa. The question is can the bees survive?