> The big boys were all set on using the new Mitaway strips (clear a hive of 
> both mites in 7 days *including* varroa in cells) but the EPA has put a 
> hold on shipments wanting additional paper work ( source Liz at Mitaway 
> this morning).
>

I am quite shocked by the obstacles put in the way of beekeepers wanting to 
make and their own formic acid treatments in the US, and coming soon, 
Canada.

As is so often the case, a safe generic product is packaged by a commercial 
interest and that commercial interest invests money lobbying to have that 
formulation approved by government.  When that happens, government sees 
little reason to allow continued use of the basic generic formulation and it 
becomes an outlaw treatment.

The sad thing is that the users wind up paying for that very restriction 
since they pay elevated prices to the very firm that limits their access to 
the generic product.  I often wonder why beekeepers will spend millions to 
fight foreign competitors, but put little effort or money onto ensuring that 
simple, inexpensive solutions are not commercialized and restricted.

We have had freedom in Canada to use formic acid with quite a bit of 
latitude and no adverse effects or events are on record yet our permission 
will lapse soon and we may well find ourselves prisoners of the same 
commercial interests and limitations as unfortunate US beekeepers.

It seems our advocates, the Canadian Honey Council plans to sit back and 
watch that happen.  I have often thought that CHC were poor advocates for 
beekeepers and often against measures to benefit the industry.   This looks 
like another case where they are letting us down unless beekeepers can 
somehow make themselves heard. 

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