quote:
Our US government refused to approve the use of liquid formic acid as
too dangerous
to the beekeeper, and would only approve the use of a formic acid GEL.

Having handled both carbolic acid (in the good old days) and more
recently, formic acid, I agree totally with the assumption that these
are too dangerous for the average person. They cause severe burns.
Since many people are apparently unable to read and follow
directions, it is better to use formic pre-packaged in the much safer
gel.

>  Perhaps the loss of 3 hives out of 10 (30%) is not of great importance to a
>  hobbyist, > but a 30% loss to a full time commercial beekeeper
>might put him out of
>  business.

Up to 50% loss among beekeepers, commercial or otherwise, is actually
common. In fact, if you make 100% increase in the spring, your bees
will be in *better* shape as a result. Take brood and bees from the
hive in spring to make new colonies and you increase brood production
& curb the urge to swarm. This is not a new idea, if you study the
history of beekeeping.
--
Peter Borst
[log in to unmask]
http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/plb6/