Aaron Morris wrote:
I agree with your post and beekeepers i have talked to are grateful to
Mr. Bob Stevens. As a customer of his and having talked to him on
several in person i believe he has the best interest of beekeepers in
his mind.Thanks Bob for investing your time and money getting a product
registered we desperately need!
The reason Bayer got the coumaphos on the market so fast in the U.S. is
simple. Section 18 .
For people not knowing what section 18 is i will put it in beekeepers
terms.
If the E.P.A can be shown that the product can stop a crash of the bee
hives in the U.S. do to the lack of another product which will do the
job AND not cause serious side effects then a section 18 emergency use
can be issued for ONE year.
Solve the problem and do damage control later. So far after one year
with coumaphos we have seen the added changes which i have a copy of and
Mann Lake can provide.
comb honey can not be sold from hives treated with coumphos and the
strips need to removed two weeks before honey supers are put on . If the
E.P.A.is so worried about coumaphos why not 30 days like Terramycin? I
put my comb honey supers on in the middle of a heavy honey flow and
remove usually in a week to prevent travel stain are they really more at
risk than the other supers? The E.P.A. will look at Coumaphos and may
not renew next year or can. Thats why the registration of the gell is so
important. My gut feeling is that if another product gets approved which
works then coumaphos is history!
It is my understanding the comb honey restriction is only for this year
and may be lifted at a later date. Is not the E.P.A. looking out for our
interest?
Many beekeepers see coumaphos as a useful tool for the time being. Its
legal and its giving close to 100% varroa control. Many beekeepers feel
Bayer needs thanking as they really didn't put coumaphos on the market
solely for the money. Beekeepers talked them into it!
In doing research for this post i found out from my state pest control
office that if a pest is resistant to all chemicals available on the
market. The licensed pest control person can apply for a emergency use
permit. Pay $10 in Missouri U.S. and apply Banned pesticides.
Bob