>>This is a perfect example of one of the problems with pesticides,
people not following the label.

As with anything, you must consider that there will always be some 
folks who will not read or not follow the label.  How can one in 
authority then sleep soundly at night knowing there is a legal agent 
used in bee hives that attacks the nervous system of humans?  I am 
sure you'll agree that checkmite and OA are not in the same class of 
chemicals as far as the risk of exposure.

>>If you use an unapproved product you don't even get a label to NOT 
read. 

You got a point on not having a label.  However, there are OA 
preparation & application procedures from countries that are not 
banana republics.  (One does not just sprinkle OA crystals into a 
hive.)  Will all the people follow the procedures?  No, 
just like with approved products.  I don't think one can assure 100% 
adherence with anything unless you inspect everyone 100%.

>>The MSDS for oxalic is pretty scary, by the way. (See below)

The words are scary but not OA itself.  'May be fatal if swallowed' - 
who would want to swallow OA crystals?  The stuff would turn your 
mouth into a pretzel before you ingested enough to kill you.  You'd 
really have to force this stuff down your throut to hurt yourself.  I 
know there are masochists out there but then you have to ban 90% of 
what is out there.

The MSDS warnings are proper though and mean that the applicator 
needs to take basic precautions - unlike checkmite, there is no need 
for nitrile gloves here though!! - but the potential for honey 
contamination with OA is much, much smaller than with the hard chems. 
Especially since OA naturally occurs in honey.

I would never personally use honey from ANY beekeeper using checkmite 
but I would use honey from ANY beekeeper who uses OA exclusively.

The OA I use is manufactured by DAP.  I got the MSDS on their OA 
before even considering to use it.  Nothing in the MSDS scared me.

>>As I recall, coumaphos was given an emergency exemption at the 
request of the beekeeping industry.

So this was another cave-in to an industry lobby with insufficient 
regard for the consumer?  Sounds familiarly unpleasant to me.  In my 
opinion, once again the government has failed its citizenry.  Do no 
harm before you do anything should be the golden rule.

>>It isn't really "approved" at all.  (Section 18 authorizes EPA to 
allow States to use a pesticide for an unregistered use for a limited 
time if EPA determines that emergency conditions exist.)

Ok.  I don't understand the difference between 'approval' 
and 'allowance' but this is not right.  I can buy and use checkmite 
from any beekeepings supply house without the EPA determining if I 
have some kind of emergency conditions.  This is a legal loophole at 
best.

>>The idea was to buy time for the industry to get other products 
tested and approved. I don't think anyone originally expected it to 
be still in use so many years later.

Sounds like a thimoresol mercury in baby vaccines case to me.  I 
think the risks are too high to allow a chemical of this type for any 
term use.

>>I don't know what is holding up oxalic.

I don't know either.  There probably isn't a lobby pushing it 
strongly through.  The last I heard OA was to be approved sometime 
this year.

Peter, I understand your position and respect your attitude that we 
should stick to the laws of the land.  Nothing wrong with that except 
I just think that our goverment is not nimble enough to protect the 
consumers.

Waldemar

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