Subject: Addicted to Meds?

From: [email-masked] (Jordan Schwartz)
Date: 17 Apr 1994 01:34:09 GMT

The talk last night at my local Beekeepers meeting was on diseases, 
always a timely topic I take it (say _that_ ten times fast).  The speaker 
talked about the fact that once you started your hives on some sort of 
drug or chemical to control a disease, you were basically committed to 
keeping them on it forever.  My question (which, being a neophyte I was 
too embarrassed to ask) is: is this true?  Why?  In the modern age, do I 
have any hope of keeping my hives drug-free (and healthy)?

Thanks,

Jordan

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From: [email-masked] (Aaron Morris)
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 94 12:40:56 EDT

In article <[email-masked]>
[email-masked] (Jordan Schwartz) writes:
 
>                                                        ...  The speaker
 
The reason for this is that the disease for which you are treating may
or may not be present, but if it IS present, the medications are going
to treat but not eradicate the disease.  Now if you stop the treatment,
the disease for which you were treating will no longer be supressed by
the drugs and could explode within your hive.
 
As far as keeping your hives drug free, you can do this simply by not
using drugs.  Drug free and healthy is a different story.  I went for
twelve years following a drug free strategy with no problems.  The
following year I was TOTALLY wiped out by American Foul Brood.  I now
routinely treat in the fall after harvest and early in the spring.  I
have all drugs out of my hives thirty days prior to supering up for the
honey flows.  I don't like the fact that I'm using drugs, but I REALLY
didn't like killing my bees and burning my equipment.  And now, with the
mite problems I don't know how you can stay drug free and healthy other
than to "Just say no to drugs" and suffer the consequences.