Scads,
Sure, I can agree that apistan saved many hives. But we have come a long way since then. We know the dangers in learning from the past.
But did you know, that strips are still being marketed? So did we really learn anything? Without discussions such as this, maybe we never will.
It is not about whether apistan saved hives in the past, it is about discussing the impacts going forward. And history does get repeated over and over again. Will we have beekeepers with piles of contaminated combs piled ten feet high as we did in the past? Hard to say. But knowing that time and time again, that we find out later that treatments marketed as safe, will be found to be very questionable later.
It is about discussing possibilities, looking for solutions and options perhaps less damaging, and not being sucked into the next "fad" treatment out there. Not suggesting that because I type on a plastic keyboard, or use nails in my hives, that any discussions about trying to be "more" natural is a lost cause.
I think your taking a discussion that needs to be discussed, and demeaning others who are trying to do a better job than what we have done in the past. And I think your stretching peoples intentions by bringing in antibiotics and other items to make a point.
Yes, new items come and go. But that does no mean we should not scrutinize, question, and weigh the impacts. You do that by open discussions. And that means you should have your say also. But this is now becoming a pattern for you, in that you would rather just denigrate others, and I somehow get the idea you are against any such discussions of one trying to chemical free, or anything else, that you may be apposed too. Sorry if this amuses you.