When a beekeeper administers additional iron to bee colonies, they are doing something unusual. They are imposing a certain management mechanism on the bee system, and the mechanism has various effects.

To understand the principles and to deduce the best form for administering iron we must understand how and why certain effects are manifested. A number of application models have been formulated, for such a theoretical foundation. These models are:

•        Microbial competition model
•        Acid/alkaline model
•        Nutrition and bee health model
•        Population structure model
•        Honey model
•   Manganese control model

These models should not be considered as an exact reflection of one or more particular situations. They are intended as a tool to help understand what actually happens; they help to find clues and generate questions for the practical solution.