Thanks Mr Van, I thought the same thing. He says it is shop towels. One article says (Randy used Scott Shop Towels). After looking at the picture, I was wondering if he meant the red cotton type shop towels as sold in harbor freight and any other shop supplier. But I went back and looked again at the article and it did say,( Randy used Scott Shop Towels) The dog I have in this hunt is the welfare of my bees and the responsibility that I assumed when I took them from the wild and placed them in an artificial surrounding. It was hard and hot work removing the first bees form a two story house that was beneath the siding, several feet from the ground. The entire area of the bees location had to be removed, and replaced siding and boards without obvious tampering to look upon. Up and down a ladder all day in the wide open hot sun. All this done on a ladder with no help. The bees deserve every honest chance to prosper under my care. I try to help them and at the same time as natural as possible. From that hive, spring before last, are now right at 30 hives. Let me add, that I might not have a single hive survive that first winter had it not been for Mr Live Oaks advice last fall, helping me get the bees through winter with his good advice of how to open feed pollen, his advice along with David at barnyard bees and a couple more in our similar latitude. I am very grateful to you Mr Live Oak. I am however very puzzled as you can probably imagine.
Allow me to share something with you. Kamon Reynolds recently did a video series featuring an experimental colony, which had had 94 mites in an alcohol wash per 300 bees. He did five Oxalic vapor treatments in a row, even still he was getting thirty two mites per three hundred mite wash. It took three added rounds making a total of EIGHT OAV treatments, along with apivar to finally reach zero mite count. He said the colony has dwindled and still has signs of multiple viruses. He and Ian Steppler discussed this in the comment section of one of his videos. A couple reasons that Kamon gave for doing the series was that his "main goal was to show that OAV isn't quite as effective as many think it is with brood present in the hive. Also, to show that mites are to be taken seriously." Now Kamon was using OAV just like you, I and others here use. Now we all know how easily the mites can get out of hand when brood is present. The trick is to make sure we are on top of it all the time and not let the mites ever get out of hand? Just another plus with the Glycerin-Oxalic saturated shop towel method, if the results are as successful as Mr Oliver has claimed. Let me iterate, I am not disputing Mr Live Oaks claims but I am now TOTALLY puzzled.
Last season, beeboy 01, here at beemaster did a series right here of a similar problem hive. With similar results. I am happy to tell you that beeboy01 told me that the hive did survive, but it was a fight. With the results shown by Mr Oliver why would I not have been excited at such promising results as he has shown, Via the Glycerin-Oxalic saturated shop towel method? Look what Mr Oliver claims to have accomplished with the shop towel method. Outstanding results! Look at his chart in post 2. I would have hoped that Mr Oliver was accurate with his findings, and still do have (some) hope. Now I honestly do not know what to think.
I am hoping that there is some sort of decrefency somewhere for the good of all. Perhaps a missed something. Even our new member concurred that he has used this method and has found only one mite in fifteen hives. And he posted that before I posted the chart showing similar results by Mr Oliver. It is rare that we have such conflicting opinions here but the mite situation seems to be one of them.
I am not trying to twist anyones thinking but I am trying to sort this out. Scratching my head.
I am more confused now than when I first asked the beginning question.
I suppose the only satisfaction that I might now get is to try this myself, by taking the bull by the horn next season, I hate to lose a hive to anything, SHB or MItes. So most likely I will set aside three or more hives and treat only with the shop towel method, if it is legal here and I see no reason why it would not be, Oxalic is Oxalic whichever form it may be in? While treating the rest the hives the old fashion way OAV.
Wish me luck!
Blessings to all,
Phillip