Way back in the dark ages (probably at least six months ago!) I sent a
post to the group re. Mavrik, so it's interesting to see the product
mentioned again.
 
Mavrik is used to control a number of pests besides ticks and fleas on
animals (and varroa and tropilaelaps in bees).  According to the trade
brochure I have, it is also recommended for a variety of seed crops,
fruits, vegetables and even cut flowers.  Target pests include grey
cabbage aphid, clover case bearer moth, blue green aphid, thrips,
whitefly, two spotted mite, European red mite, black cherry aphid,
leafcurl plum aphid, green peach aphid, and leafroller.
 
Here in New Zealand, Mavrik is used extensively as a pre-blossom
insecticide on kiwifruit.  When the chemical was given approval for this
use, beekeepers here jumped for joy, because fluvalinate (the active
ingredient) is much more bee-friendly for leafroller control than other
chemicals such as azinphos-methyl.  Because kiwifruit bloom is
staggered, we used to have growers spraying the crop just before
blossom in one orchard, and poisoning foraging bees from hives which
had been put into flowering blocks in adjacent orchards.  Now we have
virutally no bee deaths caused by leafroller sprays in kiwifruit.
 
Mavrik has now also been approved here in New Zealand for thrip
control on avocadoes during blooming, which has also significantly
reduced the number of bee kills on that crop.
 
What's interesting to me in all of this, however, is that Mavrik has so far
not been registered for use on either of these crops as a post-blossom
(developing fruit) spray.  I have been told by someone here in New
Zealand the reason is that no acceptable residual levels have been
established on fruits and vegetables.  I presume this is only because the
chemical hasn't gone through the long and involved registration process.
 
In closing, I thought I'd ask the same question I asked many moons ago to
the group (and got no replies) -- does anyone know anything more about
residue levels of fluvalinate on fruits and vegetables?  Has a limit been
set for the chemical on food stuffs anywhere overseas?