Andreas, Indeed, the price of Apistan seems very high particularly in some other countries (ie. other than Canada which appears among the cheapest). I am not privy to the methods used by pharmaceuticals to set prices and why these prices can differ greatly between countries, but lets not forget they are in business to make a profit. And of course, they wish to realize this profit as quickly as possible, especially with the prospect that their product may decline in efficacy over the next few years. I agree that it is most frustrating to have access to a different formulation of the same active ingredient (fluvalinate) at a fraction of the cost compared to the strip formulation. It is this enormous price difference that has tempted beekeepers to cook up their own recipes by dipping porous substrates in the diluted liquid fluvalinate formulation (Mavrik) and apply it to the bees. It is exactly this practise, all beekeepers should be worried about. The big problem with those 'home-made recipes' is that there is very little or no control (or knowledge, for that matter) about the delivery of appropriate dosage, rate of release, contamination, etc, etc. It is likely that those applications involve a high release of fluvalinate initially, followed by a prolonged period of declining release. Eventhough most of the adult mite population may have been wiped out initially, emerging mites at a later date together with the influx of adult mites from other apiaries, will be in the colony during the period of low fluvalinate release. Such sub-lethal environment will greatly stimulate the development of fluvalinate resistant strains. It is believed that the apistan-resistant varroa mites in Italy came about because of the widespread applications of those unauthorised formulations. Likewise, many beekeepers (especially commercial producers who have to look at labor costs) have gotten into the habit of putting in a Apistan strip in the fall and leave it in until spring. Colonies (and mites) are exposed to fluvalinate for at least 7 months and longer. Again, a practise asking for trouble! The big concern is that fluvalinate will become useless as an effective varroa control agent mush faster than necessary. So far, it has been a very effective, safe product to use. Without this tool, here in Canada we would only have formic acid left. Although we are making progress in developing more user-friendly, slow release formic acid application methods, it will be much harder for beekeepers to protect their beloved livestock from Varroa by only using formic acid. So, don't be tempted! Apply Apistan strips only when necessary (ie. after you tested for mites to determine infestation levels), and apply for the recommended time according to label and remove afterwards! Paul van Westendorp [log in to unmask] Provincial Apiarist British Columbia