Recognizing that Apistan is regularly used in the United States and with
regard to using the Killion method of producing comb honey, where bees are
likely to move honey from the brood nest to supers, Mark asks "is
there any danger of the nectar that moves from the brood chamber to the comb
honey super being tainted" (with fluvalinate)?
 
My understanding is that the fluvalinate formulation has deliberately been
made so that it is hydrophobic, meaning that it will not dissolve in or
attach to liquids, including honey.  I also understand that honey sampling
has been done in an effort to detect the levels of fluvalinate and they have
been zero to far less than the EPA limits.  (Some honey producers are
reputed to have used fluvalinate in forms other than Apistan, and there is
some possibility that such forms are not formulated to be hydrophobic.)
 
I have been told that the Apistan label in the UK, does not have any
prohibition against using strips during flows.  However, I have not had that
confirmed and I have not seen the labels.
 
Mark, I think the easy answer to your question is that there should be no
danger of contamination because your bees move honey from the brood nest to
supers.
 
Mark, you also mentioned the Killion method of swarm control.  There is no
question that their method will work.  However, it is extremely labor
intensive, and will result continually working with very angry bees.
Commercial producers of comb honey, and many other producers as well, use
alternate methods of swarm control that are far less labor intensive and
also involve considerably lower levels of hive intervention.  I will be
outlining these methods in the May issue of Bee Culture, and you might find
them of interest.
 
Lloyd
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Owner, Ross Rounds(tm), the finest in comb honey production.
http://www.rossrounds.com