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• Can Robbing Screens Reduce Mite Immigration?: Part 1

  Can Robbing Screens Reduce Mite Immigration? Part 1 Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ July 2024 After writing about my investigations into bee drift and mite immigration, I was asked whether the use of robber guards (aka robbing screens) could decrease the amount of mite immigration into hives. So I ran some controlled field […]

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• Effect of OAV on the Rearing of Brood

  Effect of OAV on the Rearing of Brood Ernie Daley and Randy Oliver  First published in ABJ June 2024      I have used OAV (oxalic acid vaporization) for varroa control for over ten years and have wondered whether (1) the treatment could be applied proactively prior to the introduction of package bees, and (2) whether […]

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• Time for Plan B?

  Time for Plan B? Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First Published in ABJ June 2024  The varroa mite invaded beehives in the U.S. nearly 40 years ago, and has been our major problem ever since. Until mite-resistant stock becomes readily available, we’re stuck with attempting to manage this parasite with an inadequate range of registered products. Keep […]

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• A Field Trial of Probiotics: Part 2

  Contents Introduction. 1 My Two Field Trials 2 Trial #1. 3 Results of Field Trial #1. 4 Analysis of the Effect of Probiotics Upon the Gut Microbiomes. 5 Conclusion of Trial #1. 7 Trial #2. 7 Experimental Setup. 7 Results of Trial #2. 10 Discussion. 12 Final Thoughts 13 Acknowledgements. 13 Citations and Notes 13 […]

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• Extended Release Thymol Blocks

  Contents My Preliminary Findings 1 Preparation. 2 Application. 4 Colony Response to the Treatment 6 Final Inspection. 13 Effect Upon Varroa. 15 Is it Worth Preparing Your Own?. 15 Remaining Questions to Answer 15 There’s a Reason that EPA Registers Miticides! 16 Citations and Notes 16 Extended-Release Thymol Blocks Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in […]

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• The Elephant and the EPA

  The Elephant and the EPA Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ April 2024   A related pair of issues are coming to a head: (1) The “elephant in the room” that nobody wants to talk about –– that the EPA is feeling increasing pressure to ramp up enforcement against beekeeper use of unapproved treatments, […]

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• Experimenting with Formic Acid

  Contents Formic Vapors and their distribution. 1 Experiment #1: Applying Formic Pro on the bottom board, with a temporary top entrance. 2 Results. 5 Experiments on queen loss due to formic. 6 Experiment #2: Can you remove, and then reintroduce the queen?. 7 Experiment #3: Is it the formic or the bees that kill the […]

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• Welcome to the 4th Agricultural Revolution!

  Contents THE OTHER AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTIONS. 3 The First Revolution (The Neolithic Revolution) 4 The Second Revolution. 4 The Third Revolution (The “Green Revolution”) 5 The Fourth Revolution (“Agriculture 4.0) 6 The Almond Industry. 6 The Honey Industry. 7 Miticide Resistance. 7 FACTORS INVOLVED IN ALMOND POLLINATION. 8 Demand from the Almond Industry. 8 Climate Change […]

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• Good News from the EPA !

    Good News from the EPA! Randy Oliver ScientificBeekeeping.com First published in ABJ January 2024   Last month I wrote about a letter that I written in July to the EPA, asking for clarification as to whether they actually had authority under FIFRA to justify restricting beekeepers from using generic oxalic acid (and other natural […]

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• 2023 Field Trial of Matrices and Formulations for Extended-Release Oxalic Acid

  Contents A Large Field Research Project 1 Materials and Methods 2 Experimental design. 2 Surface Area of the Treatments 4 Justification for the Ratios Tested. 4 The Test Colonies 4 The Matrices 7 Dose applied to the bees 13 Results. 14 Summary of my interpretation of the chart 16 Discussion. 16 Musing on other studies […]

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