Are neonicotinoid pesticides responsible for the demise of bees and other wildlife?

[The Drone Ranger]

Has anyone used Api-life var. I have used apistan in the past but Edinburgh bka reported a 70% resistance to it in the Lothians so that is out for me this year.

Hi onj
I have tested most of these varroa treatments myself and Api life var is pretty good and has the advantage that you don't need an eke to make room for it.
You need a solid floor though not a mesh one
I have quite a few hives myself so use 500grms of thymol dissolved in 1 ltr of surgical spirit. Two sponge squares at the upper rear of the broodbox 20ml of solution on each sponge. 2 weeks later put another 20ml on each sponge.
If I had 2 hives I would use api life var though

[Jimbo]

Last year I used thymol in meths on sponges in some hives and just 8g straight thymol crystals on a honey jar lids in others. Both worked well although some hives reacted to the treatment. Some were OK, some poured bees out the front door but when back in and some pulled out larvae and dumped them which was a bit alarming but they soon went back to normal and produced more larvae. The mite drop was small which was not what I expected. I later treated with Oxalic acid later in the year and still got a small mite drop. Last year there was discussion on the forum about small mite numbers so I was not the only person with small mite infestations

[Neils]

Jimbo, I think the last couple of years, for me at least, have illustrated that varroa IPM is not something that is set in stone. It isn't as simple as 1 2 3, and some years the mite levels will be worse than others and it will vary from colony to colony too.

I suspect based on nothing concrete right now that we'll see low mite drops this year. I wonder if what the winter losses will be because the weathers really thrown people off gauging what the bees are storing in terms of food.

I hope that makes sense, I'm still sampling the local wares in Edinburgh.

[Calum]

I use thymol toothpaste (for my teeth, that is) and have often wondered if the thymol content was strong enough to affect varroa. The fact that I'm still alive suggests to me that it is harmless to humans. My wife also cooks with with thyme and her cooking hasn't killed me yet either. Perhaps it's one of those slow acting things that will cause me to forget my way home.

Steve

Hi,
well they are very exact here about honey. By law you are not allowed to add or take away anything from honey. To prevent honey being 'punched'. I can appreciate without such laws there would be a motivation to stretch the honey crops by feeding in parallel to increase the saleable quantity. Contamination through medicines for varroa, pesticides and antibiotics (fire blight treatments) are also deviations from what my customers understand as a natural product.

It is often discussed whether the heating that honey producers do to make honey eternally runny is a breach of the spirit of the law as they kill off all the enzymes in the honey which are also an integral part of its goodness (in end effect runny honey is a flavored sugar solution you could say)..

In the interests of preserving the public’s appreciation of this product (and willingness to pay a top price for it) it is important that they can implicitly trust in exceptional quality and purity. I kind of like that idea, I'm proud to produce a unique natural product of the highest quality and appreciate the trust of my customers - they and their families eat what my bees produce and I process- so it’s up to me and every other beekeeper to maintain the image of our product and maintain our customers trust.

[chris]

Calum, I agree with what you say, in theory anyway. I never heat my honey either, but my mix contains a good proportion of lime (most years) and yours you have said is *wood honey*. So no need to heat.There's a good dose of honeydew in it. Surely you wouldn't expect someone whose bees work the clover or other fast setting honeys to not heat?
Also if you really want the best for your customers why do you spin extract ?Apart from convenience.

[Calum]

Hi Chris
yes my dandelion/ apple blossom I have to heat. 30°C 24 hours is enough to get it moving, low loss of enzymes and hydroxthingy buildup at that temperature.
the runny honey you get in asda has been pasturised, a big difference.
whats wrong with spin extraction (as long as its not a humid day?).

[Johnthefarmer]

We've gone in this thread from discussing the nuttier end of beekeeping campaigning blogs to full-on beekeeping in boxes without side and bottom bars to the frames. OK if we ship this bit to the 'Alternative' section? Do feel free to continue here meantime.

Yes, perhaps you should free up this space for discussion on neonics, or at least on 'Beekeeping and the environment'.
It is, afterall, quite an important aspect that has been sidetracked.
There is a school of thought which holds that the admin of a forum should maintain a certain distance from judgement of the content.
So far ,Gavin, you have, and continue to, rubbish what are well presented arguments against the position you repeatedly espouse :that neonics are the best available product, that their escalating use worldwide is relatively innocuous, and that any alternative would be far worse.
Please allow Scottish beekeepers to entertain thoughts outside of this mainstream, global-capitalistic mindset.
On another tack, I wonder if the Archers will end up with a mega-dairy or a Polish-inspired mixed farm outcome?

[madasafish]

Anyone who complains that the thread has drifted off topic and then says "mainstream, global-capitalistic mindset." is having a laugh :-)

[Johnthefarmer]

In Spain 20+% of the population is unemployed (officially). Similar figures from elsewhere. The idea that we have to continually replace workers on farms with systems and products requiring fewer and fewer staff, especially as the work can be fullfilling and the outcomes better, is rubbish.
The job of working the land and producing our food is central,fundamental to any society. Why are we content to leave it all in the control of irresponsible multinationals to carve up our
most productive agricultural areas, with the only motive being shareholder profits?
No doubt I can be accused of naivete, communism, hippiedom or whatever, but really, the idea that,say, in Spain, youths are hanging around idle watching big tractors spraying massive areas of monocrops, when intensive mixed farming smallholdings would produce more,better food is at least frustrating.

[Johnthefarmer]

Anyone who complains that the thread has drifted off topic and then says "mainstream, global-capitalistic mindset." is having a laugh :-)

I stand by that clumsy phrase!