> What caused the shift away from Formic? From all I have seen, it is the
> most effective treatment for a host of
> problems.
>
Beekeepers shifted to thymol and oxalic because formic is more diffucult to
use. We have ready made formic acid gel packets for sale, but still they are
a bit more work.
Also some ( mostly who overdosed) reported problems with queens. I had a 7
year comparison study with about 150 hives ( 50 - 70 of them with formic)
and in it we could not see more queen problems.
Also the danger for the applicator is more with formic. At the moment we are
working for a pre - cut cloth that woud absorb a certain amount of acid.
This would make applicaion safer and easier. Just pre soaked pads in the
yard and they are put to place with a barbeque tongs. Safe and fast.
Ari Seppälä
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