SOME California retail FOB prices on chemicals used by beekeepers.
All prices are cash US $, and do go up and down depending on the
supplier. These are the list prices from DADANT & Son's Fresno, CA.
 
      Apistan     10 to a pk       18.95  extended  1.90
                  100 to a pk     149.50            1.50
 
      Menthol     12 to a pk       29.75
      18 or more cartons of 12-    28.30
                  bulk 55#        750.00
 
      Terramycin  6.4 oz depending on quantities     4.05- 3.75
 
      Bee-Go      5 gal           205.00
 
      Fumidil-B   9 1/2 grams case lots        54.00
 
 
In California a permit is required to buy and use Apistan and reports
of use must be filed with local Agricultural Commissioner.
 
     There are other products being used out side of the legal ones.
Some beekeepers have found a back door source of chemically impregnated
strips by the mile. You cut them to size yourself. For commercial bee-
keeping operations that have very small margin's of profit it is easy to
see why it is necessary sometime's to chose between bread on the table
and high priced formulations of minute amounts of chemicals and making
one's own remedy outside the law. As bad as that may be with all the
risks, I wonder if we would ever have any legal treatments if some
beekeepers had not worked outside of the system.
 
     Beekeepers in California have spent tens of thousands of dollars
and worked years within the system to get a product registered for
AFB treatment that may be far superior then TM or anything else, and has
other potential as it may cause the brood cycle to also be accelerated
by one day when used in bee diets. It still is not registered for use
for treating bees. This "silver" bullet has no big profit potential for
the manufacture or formulator so may never be legal under our regulatory
system that deals the short had to the small and weak and rewards those
who spend the most on PR.
                                ttul Andy-
 
 
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Opinions are not necessarily facts.