Jante verbalize the unwritten law that says that you can not stand up and think that you are better than others in some way. It’s a fictional law of a fictional Danish town in a novel by Aksel Sandemose in the book En flykting korsar sitt spår (A refugee crosses his tracks) (1933). The closest phenomenon in the English-speaking world is what is called The tall poppy syndrome.
2008, varroa and viruses
In spring of 2008, I had been told not to give advice to beekeepers how to combat the varroa mite. This is because I allegedly gave dangerous advice that caused beekeepers to lose their bees. The one who told me this, I had been told treated against Varroa mites only once a year trickling with oxalic acid solution in November and calculated to have 30% winter losses.
Shortly afterwards a desperate beekeeper called me in late April. He actually sought someone else he could not get through to. He asked for advice on how he would do to save his eight colonies from dying as they all showed wingless bees in different amounts. It is considered by some that a bee colony showing wingless bees is doomed to die and can not be saved. So what should I do? I was told not to give advice. But should I tell the person seeking help to let the bees die, or should I give the best advice I could? Deny a needy help, I could not.
– The mildest treatment against the already by viruses weakened bees, are probably in this case Apistan, I said, but you may not want to use that. (The mites had just arrived there and built a population and Apistan had never been used before.)
– No, said the beekeeper from east central Sweden.
– To treat these highly viruses weakened bees with acid is to lead them into death, I said. Oxalic acid could possibly have been used in November, but only really if one earlier in July/August had checked the colonies concerning the amount of mites and treated with something then if needed, so they are not weakened when Oxalic treatment comes in November/December.
– Do you know what Apiguard is? I asked.
– No, he replied, and did not know what Thymol was either.
– The best advice I can give you is to get in touch with Joel Svensson’s Bee Equipements and ask them to help you get Apiguard. Read the packaging how to use it, and apply it as soon as you can. Thymol, I think is mildest for the bees in this case.
In September the same year the beekeeper called med and thanked me for I had helped him. All his bee colonies had survived, even the most affected and vulnerable. He had also made a few splits and wintered 13 colonies.
I asked him how long time Apiguard was in the hives.
– All summer, he replied.
– Huh, I cried, but did you harvest any honey then?
– Oh yeah, was the answer.
– But didn’t the honey taste thymol, I asked.
– No, he replied.
Hmm, could it be possible? Maybe yes, maybe no. Well, you should not and need not to use Apiguard as this beekeeper did. But the most positive thing with this beekeeper was that the colonies recovered and lived. And the honey was safe to eat whether it tasted thymol or not. It was probably mostly this beekeeper and his family who ate the honey that year I believe. He certainly hadn’t a bumper crop.
The bees pollinated and did what they should. And the beekeeper was happy.