> Although I agree with you Pete, that it is intuitively obvious that something corrosive enough to damage mites *should* also do *some sort* of damage to bees, I think it is fair to ask return, where is the evidence that this formulation harms the bees?

Look, I have worked with formic for more than ten years, and I have seen it kill queens & bees, so for someone to say it doesn't, they need to prove it. Even opening up the hive too much can hurt bees. The burden of proof is on the person claiming that the application of a caustic acid to living creatures does not hurt them, or the honey. 

Use of Formic acid gel resulted in removed drone eggs, delayed drone
production and reduced adult drone survival. Formic acid may also have
adverse effects on open brood and hatching bees, depending on ambient temperature and
device used, although loss of brood did not have a negative effect on colony overwintering in
mid-European conditions. Formic acid produced the highest rate of adult bee mortality
(35.3 bees/hive/day) of 6 substances tested.

From: A Review of Treatment Options For Control of Varroa Mite in New Zealand

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