> where does amitraz end up in the hive?

In the wax.
If that sounds bad, it is going to end up in the wax RATHER than in the
honey.
One would much rather have it being absorbed by the wax.

> amitraz, coumaphos and Fluvalinate... bromopropylate... chlorfenvinophos
and acrinathrin

All of these chemicals share a common feature, they are hydrophobic, and mix
well with oils, like wax, not mixing well with water.
The world of chemicals can be divided into the hydrophobic ones that will be
absorbed by beeswax, and the hydrophilic ones that will be absorbed into the
honey.  The good news is that some of the hydrophilic chemicals are so
volatile that they will volatilize out of the honey into the air, formic
acid being the most common example.

Pollen will likely tend to be contaminated by the same miticides as honey,
as pollens collected by bees tend to be moist, so the moisture in the pollen
will pick up the hydrophilic ones.

> So....although amitraz/DPMF are said to have a short hive-life, it also
seems that they enter the wax.
> I am puzzled by Randy's comment to Allen that amitraz doesn't penetrate
wax cappings.
> Can anyone explain this?

I think it would be more accurate to say that the miticides are absorbed
into the wax and (mostly) stay there. The wax is thus likely to deliver a
very low-level amitraz dose over time, not sufficient to kill mites, but
likely to help mites become resistant.  This is what happens with all the
miticides that build up in wax.  But "penetration of the wax cappings" is
possible only with both sufficient vapor pressure and a molecule small
enough to get through the "filter" of wax, so the molecule would have to be
smaller than a water molecule, the wax cappings on honey being said to be
waterproof.

As an aside, formic acid is interesting in that its vapors break down to CO
and H2O, but the liquid itself breaks down to CO2 and H2 under the same
(atmospheric) conditions.  Decarboxylation versus evaporation.

HCOOH --> CO + H2O ("evaporation" for "vapor")
HCOOH --> CO2 + H2 ("decarboxylation" for "liquid")

That said, I have not sat down to grind out the required math to "prove"
that Formic acid vapor can penetrate wax cappings, and I am not about to try
it here on a plane, but the two main issues would be the molecule size and
the vapor pressure to push it through.

Below is a cut and paste from a post I contributed a few months ago on this
polar/non-polar subject, as it is an important bit of trivia when speaking
about miticides, wax, pollen, and honey.

Note on Chemistry, Wax, and Miticides/Pesticides:
===========================================

It's pretty simple - "Water and Oil Don't Mix."
Substances are either "water-based" (Hydrophilic) or "oil-based"
(Hydrophobic) substance, miticides and pesticides included.

A hydrophobic molecule is "non-polar". There is no partial negative or
positive charge anywhere on the molecule. So, the molecule repels water.
Hydrophilic (charged and polar) molecules  have a partial charge, allowing
them to hydrogen bond with water, as oxygen is electronegative and that end
of the water molecule is negatively charged.

Hydrophobic pesticides are becoming more common.  This means that more
traces of more and more pesticide and miticides will build up in the brood
combs.  Wax is a sponge.  Ask Jerry B, who can tell you if your bee truck
runs on gas or diesel with nothing but a brood comb sample.  Ask MaryAnn
Fraizer, who has published multiple articles on this specific subject.

This is yet another reason why, despite of Allen and Randy's
recently-expressed love of old black brood combs, I still rotate my brood
combs on a strict 2 combs per year basis, even though I use only organic
acids to control varroa.  I don't know what the bees might bring home, but I
took enough chemistry to know that "wax is a chemical sponge".

http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A2=ind1307&L=BEE-L&
P=R10302&1=BEE-L&9=A&J=on&X=456C672F24D946B674

http://tinyurl.com/nfossr7



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