>
> >I have not run across a commercial beekeeper using either of these strips
> for over a decade.
Bob, I thought that would be the case, until I recently spoke to commercial
beeks at various conventions. There are still plenty using Checkmite, and
Mavrik.
>
>
> >When apistan (fluvalinate) became Tau fluvalinate those using the strips
> saw
> problems.
FYI, Apistan has always had tau fluvalinate as the active ingredient. The
only thing that changed was the *name* of the isomer mixture, not the
chemical formulation. I've tracked this misunderstanding back to the
beginning. It is merely a nomenclature change, not a chemical change.
>
> >Jeff Pettis ( Beltsville Bee Lab) showed slides of the chemical produced
> when Tau Fluvalinate and coumaphos were used on the same comb.
This is the first that I've heard of a de novo chemical being produced! Dr
Pettis is out to lunch right now, so I can't confirm. However, the two
together are still a problem, since they are both detoxified by the same
P450 pathway in the bee. I just finished reading a 77-page monograph on
insect P450's this rainy morning--what a way to wake up!
Here's something you'll like, Bob--it looks like the same or similar P450's
are also used by the bee to detoxify your bete noir, imidacloprid.
>
>
> The big contamination reported by the CCD working group can be traced back
> to these two chemical strips and NOT bathtub mitacides.
Bob, as you well know, few commercial beeks used Apistan strips--they used
constantly increasing doses of bathtub Mavrik. And many used agricultural
coumaphos rather than Checkmite strips.
Gavin said, "but it seems incontrovertible that some uses of these farm
pesticides are foolhardy and just shouldn't be allowed."
Gavin, the evidence is hardly incontrovertible--indeed it is just the
opposite. Criminey, this is so weird for me to be defending any pesticide!
However, the neonics belong to one of the new generation of "botanical"
pesticides, and properly used may greatly decrease the overall pesticide
insult to the environment.
We don't know enough yet about the reported high Florida levels of
imidacloprid in citrus to draw conclusions. For example, I recently took
photos of my bees in almonds drinking from a pipe fitting used to carry
chemigation water. In such a case, the bees could easily receive an
unexpectedly high dose of a chemical.
Randy Oliver
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