> 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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