Well, maybe, and your advice is certainly well-taken, but I think you might be giving common sense way too much credit. I mean, if a simple act of refraining from smoking cigarettes could prevent the ravages of lung cancer, I dare say that every American would know better than to inhale. Using a bee-example, beestings were first recommended as a cure for arthritis back in the 1950s, but the German doctor who recommended this simple and effective cure was tossed out of the country by a government that, I dare say, was more willing to listen to the ravings of the AMA than to look at the results of this amazingly effective treatment. So, you're advice is good. I'll do more research, but my beekeeper neighbors did manage to get rid of varoaa mites with oil of peppermint---it really did work, so I'm hopeful at least.

So here goes...

There is no evidence that mints, candies, even essential oils do anything to control mites. Thymol, from the thyme plant does, but in strong enough doses it kills bees, and people. Although organic, it's hardly harmless.

sometimes mite counts are just low, and sometimes they are there but we don't go looking for them.

now soemthing that does cause mites to fall off is powdered sugar... not the confectioners sugar in the star that has corn starch for anti caking properties, real powdered sugar that you make by putting a cup of granulated beet sugar in the blender and whacking the heck out of it.

lift out ever brood frame and lay side to be treated up. Sprinkle sugar using a stainless parmesan shaker over the bees wherever there is brood or eggs.

Repeat 7 days later, then 7 dates later.

The important thing with any of these is "do you know if they worked?" Due to resistance and environmental conditions (temperature, broodlessness) needed for some treatments, every one should be suspect until you test for mites and find it did work.

Did you use checkmite last year? I know one beekeeper locally who did and had big winter losses and lots of mites in spring. He didn't do any testing so we'll never know for sure, but based on the results and info from another beekeeper in the area who did test and found it didn't work, I'd guess the commercially available and approved treatment was just as good as treating with a can of beer.

I've heard similar tales when checkmite resistance first showed up in CA. Beekeepers who tested after treatment had time to try something else. Those (the majority) who depended on it to work without question lost bees.

I have heard the mint plant come up before, but I'd be skeptical simply because I've never heard anyone actually trying to treat with mint extract or oil.

But if you want to give it a try, I'd do it with a few hives and test thoughout the season. If mites get heavy enough that treatment is necessary, then treat them some other way. And then, test them after the treatment to make sure it worked. Never assume a treatment worked, homebrew or commercial.

And ditto on the 'organic does not equal harmless'. Niteshade anybody?

-Tim

-Tim

Just a thought.

By Otto Boecking, Institut für Landwirtschaftliche, Germany

Varroa jacobsoni is a predatory mite that lives on honeybees. In recent years it has been spread throughout the world by beekeepers. It is now the worst bee disease of Apis mellifera. However, Varroa jacobsoni does not show notable disturbance of the Asiatic hive bee Apis cerana. Therefore in Apis cerana beekeeping, treatments against Varroa are not necessary. Varroa jacobsoni regularly infest Apis cerana colonies, yet many Apis cerana beekeepers have never seen a Varroa mite in their colonies! Apis cerana and Varroa have built up a balanced host-parasite interrelation in which neither the bees nor the mites completely kill the other species.. Varroa jacobsoni cannot reproduce in worker brood. ... Varroa does reproduce successfully in both drone and worker brood of Apis mellifera bees and can build large mite populations during the whole brood rearing season.

(source)

So, planting mint around the hives will make your beeyard smell nice but I doubt it will help the bees.

Your neighbor who uses only mint to treat v. mites is probably not telling you everything. I have heard many beekeepers make claims about mint, teatree oil and such.
They say how good it works, meanwhile, they buy new packages of bees every year to replace the winter kill.....Maybe, just maybe, the beekeeper should call it what it is, loss to mites......I am a bee inspector for 3 counties in ohio and personally know 250 beekeepers. Not one of them uses mint (on the outside of the hive) to treat mites inside the hive....

behind my house is 40 acres of wild mint, pepper, speara, and mountain mint, and cowmit, and catmint....I have never seen so much mint! you can smell it everywhere you step...
I have plenty of mites.....Good Luck