FILENAME:  JULAPIS.92
 
            Florida Extension Beekeeping Newsletter
    Apis--Apicultural Information and Issues (ISSN 0889-3764)
                 Volume 10, Number 7, July 1992
 
 
                         ON VOLUNTEERISM
 
     The use of volunteers to provide short-term consulting in
beekeeping appears to be on the rise.  For some apiculturists, this
represents a productive use of time.  Although the volunteer gets
no salary, expenses are paid and one gets a much better idea of
daily life in a specific area of the world than is possible when
traveling as a tourist.  It is definitely not a holiday; living
conditions can be tough, and the working hours are long.  Overseas
assignments are not for everyone; would-be volunteers face a strict
screening process to determine suitability and one must be as ready
to learn as teach.  But once one is selected, consulting with
beekeepers in another setting can open a world of opportunity and
excitement.
 
     If this idea appeals to you, two agencies that I know of in
the business of recruiting volunteers in beekeeping can be
contacted.  They are Florida Association of Voluntary Agencies for
Caribbean Action (FAVA/CA), 1311 Executive Center Drive, Suite 202,
Tallahassee, FL 32301, ph 904/877-4705 and Volunteers in Overseas
Cooperative Assistance, Suite 1075, 50 F St. N.W., Washington, DC
20001, ph 202/383-4961.  FAVA/CA, called Florida's Peace Corps by
many, works strictly in the Caribbean, but VOCA is now sending
volunteers to many parts of the world, including Eastern Europe and
those independent states that used to comprise the Soviet Union.
 
                            IN THANKS
 
     Scott Yocom would like to extend a sincere thank you to the
Tampa Bay Beekeepers Association and the Manasota Beekeepers
Association for their recent gifts to the Varroa research program
at the University of Florida.  Donations such as these enable
research to continue even with state cutbacks.  These funds are
being used to support research relating to the susceptibility of
Varroa to fluvalinate and amitraz for future monitoring of
pesticide resistance.
 
     Scott would like to also thank the Florida State Beekeepers
Association for awarding him the honor of the Cal T. Albritton,
Powers Honey Co., Researcher of the Year Award.  Additional thanks
go to Laurence and Eloise Cutts for their help and use of bees,
Jerry Crews for his help in the Cocoa area, Bill Merritt and Jerry
Latner of Dadant & Sons, Umatilla for equipment and bee donations,
and Fred Rossman of Rossman Apiaries, Moultrie, Georgia for bee
donations and equipment construction.  This assistance materially
helped to test new Apistan (R) strips in packages and hives, the
use of one Apistan (R) strip for movement certification, and to
test effect of brood comb type on Varroa reproduction.
 
 
     Finally, thanks are given to Dr. Bill Gladney of Zoecon
Corporation for major financial support of Dr. Harvey Cromroy's and
Scott Yocom's Varroa research program.  Scott will be winding up
his course work and exams in the next few months and soon after
will be in the final stages of writing his dissertation.
 
                       INSPECTOR FEEDBACK
 
     Recently, the Florida state bee inspectors were in Gainesville
for a feedback session.  Three major concerns were expressed:
increase in the use of extender patties; potential safety hazards
of formic acid; and lack of a detailed management plan in many
operations.  Here are my thoughts on these issues:
 
Extender Patties:  The idea behind extender patties is that the
antibiotic used for controlling American foulbrood (AFB),
Terramycin (R), retains (extends) its activity longer in vegetable
fat than when administered as a dust or in syrup.  It also takes
the bees longer to consume these patties, thus one treatment can be
applied in place of the several recommended on the EPA-approved TM
25 label for either dust or syrup.  Finally, the chances of
Terramycin (R) killing brood is minimized.  Extender patty
technology has not been fully employed in the past because a
specific label for this use was not approved by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).  As is well known, it is a violation of
the law to use any antibiotic on bee colonies without a label in
hand.
 
     The basic research on antibiotic extender patty (AEP)
technology was done by Dr. Bill Wilson, now at the Weslaco Bee
Laboratory.  It was published under the title "Antibiotic
Treatments that Last Longer" in American Bee Journal, September
1970, pp 348-351.  The recipe used by Dr. Wilson is as follows:
1/3 lb vegetable fat + 2/3 lb granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons TM
25.  This made a one-pound patty good for one treatment; Dr. Wilson
has verbally stated that half-pound patties are also effective.  A
prime advocate of the technology was the late P.F. (Roy) Thurber,
who published his observations on the technology entitled
"Medication and Comb Rotation for AFB" in The Speedy Bee, December,
1980 and January, 1981.  Unfortunately, Mr. Thurber's recipe varies
from that of Dr. Wilson, confusing the issue.
 
     Recently, there has been increased interest in extender patty
technology because research indicates that administering vegetable
shortening to bee colonies may reduce infestation levels of honey
bee tracheal mites.  Again, no specific label exists for this use.
However, the possibility that AFB, as well as tracheal mites, can
be controlled in one treatment is a powerful incentive to use AEPs.
 
     Into this fray comes Mr. Jack Thomas of Mann Lake Supply.
Using his own resources, Mr. Thomas has received a label for a
product called Terra-Patties (R).  It is based on the fact that TM
25 is an effective control of AFB and that vegetable fat,
specifically Crisco (R), is just another carrier similar to
powdered sugar or sugar syrup.  In developing his formulation, Mr.
Thomas found it extremely difficult to adequately mix the
antibiotic evenly throughout the Crisco (R)-sugar mixture.  In
order to do this, he uses a specific, proprietary process.  The
problem of adequate mixing may be one reason why different recipes
and results in effectiveness have been reported in the past.
 
     Mr. Thomas reports good effectiveness in the field with his
product, but to my knowledge, rigorous testing of the formulation
backed up by published data is lacking.  A strong argument for
using Terra-Patties (R) is that they are processed far more
uniformly than can be done by the beekeeper.  Most importantly,
however, the product has a label; it, therefore, becomes the only
legal way I know to use this technology.  For more information,
contact Mann Lake Supply, County Rd. 40 & 1st St., Hackensack, MN
56452, ph 218/675-6688.  Mention of the above product is for
information only.  The Florida Cooperative Extension Service does
not recommend purchase of the product and takes no responsibility
for either its use or effectiveness.  If there are other
formulations of antibiotic extender patties with approved labels,
I would appreciate hearing about them.  I will send a copy of Dr.
Wilson's paper and a reprint of those by Mr. Thurber on request.
 
Formic Acid:  I published information on the possible dangers of
this material exactly one year ago.  It bears repeating:
 
     There's been a lot of information recently on use of formic
acid for mite control.  The material has several things going for
it including the fact that it is a natural product, fairly
inexpensive and is effective against both tracheal and Varroa
mites.  However, my colleague at the University of California in
Davis, Eric Mussen, laments that some facts have been left out in
all the folderol.  First of all, the material doesn't have a label
and so cannot be legally used.  Second, it's potentially dangerous
to users.  Here's what he writes in his newsletter, From the UC
Apiaries.
 
     Formic acid is the simplest carboxylic acid with a formula of
H-C-OOH.  It has a molecular weight of 46.03 and is described as a
"colorless, fuming liquid with a pungent, penetrating odor."  It
boils at 216 degrees F, melts at 35 degrees F, has a specific
gravity of  1.2, a vapor pressure of 23 mm Hg at 20 degrees C,
mixes well with water, alcohol, ether and glycerol, and has an odor
threshold at 21 ppm.
 
     Vapor-air mixtures of 18-57% are explosive, if the ambient
temperature is at or above 122 degrees F and the mixture is ignited
by a spark.  The vapors are heavier than air and may travel a
considerable distance to source of ignition and flashback.
However, fire is not a major concern.
 
     1.  Organic acids are dangerous materials to handle.  If you
spill formic acid on your skin, expect severe pain, brown or
yellowish stains, burns that usually penetrate the full thickness
of the skin, have sharply defined edges, and heal slowly with scar
tissue formation.  If you spill it on your clothes and don't wash
it out, chronic exposure can lead to dermatitis (rash), protein
precipitation, and red blood cells in urine.
 
     2.  Splashed into eyes, formic acid causes pain, tears,
blurred vision and photosensitization (lights are too bright).  In
severe cases, conjunctival edema (swelling around eyes) leads to
destruction of corneas.
 
     3.  If someone accidentally drank formic acid, it would cause
severe burning pain in the mouth, throat and abdomen; followed by
vomiting, watery or bloody diarrhea, tenesmus (painful straining
during urination), retching, hemolysis (ruptured blood cells),
hematuria (blood cells in urine), anuria, liver and kidney damage
with jaundice, hypotension (low blood pressure), collapse,
convulsions, coma and paralysis.
 
     4.  The most subtle effects involve inhalation.  Opening a
container of formic acid in an enclosed space liberates fumes.  At
100 ppm, the fumes are immediately dangerous to life and health.
Inhalation at low concentrations causes tearing, rhinorrhea (runny
nose), coughing, throat irritation, and headache.  Higher
concentrations may produce the previous symptoms, followed in six
to eight hours by pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs), tightness
in the chest, difficulty breathing, dizziness, frothy expectoration
and cyanosis (bluish or purplish skin discoloration due to lack of
oxygen in the blood).  Breathing only a little at a time over
prolonged periods can lead to erosion of the teeth, local tissue
death in the jaw, bronchial irritation with chronic cough, frequent
attacks of bronchial pneumonia and gastrointestinal disturbances.
 
     If there is any good news in the story, it is that formic acid
does not appear to be carcinogenic.  It is a mutagen (causes
mutations in genetic material).
 
     Use of proper protective equipment is a must when handling
formic acid.  The chemical container should be opened only in a
room with powerful exhaust ventilation.  The acid is strong enough
to eat through some forms of plastics, rubber and coatings.
Employees must wear appropriate protective clothing and equipment
to prevent any possibility of skin contact with this substance,
including appropriate gloves, splash-proof or dust-resistant safety
goggles and faceshield.
 
     If a person is going to be in an atmosphere where there are
100 ppm (0.01%) formic acid, one of the following must be worn:
 
A.  Chemical cartridge respirator with an organic vapor cartridge
and a full face mask.
 
B.  Dust, mist and fume respirator.
 
C.  Gas mask with an organic vapor canister (chin-style, front- or
back-mounted canister).
 
D.  Supplied-air respirator with a full face piece, helmet or hood.
 
E.  Self-contained breathing apparatus with full facepiece.
 
     Each Florida state bee inspector has been issued a Material
Data Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) on formic acid for a reference.  I
will send a copy on request.  An emergency telephone number for the
manufacturer, Fisher Scientific, 1 Reagent Lane, Fair Lawn, NJ
07410 is 201/796-7100.
 
Management Plan:  A detailed management plan is an absolute
necessity for beekeeping operations.  There can be no standard
recipe for this as each enterprise has a unique set of needs.  A
guide to Florida beekeeping exists, however, which describes
generalized conditions around which a management plan is built.  It
is Florida Cooperative Extension Circular 537, A Florida Beekeeping
Almanac.  Now out of print, this publication is in the process of
being revised.  For a xeroxed copy, send me a $3.00 check payable
to Department of Entomology/Nematology.
 
                   DISEASE BULLETIN AVAILABLE
 
     Perhaps the best honey bee disease bulletin I have ever seen
has been published by the Canadian Association of Professional
Apiculturists (CAPA).  It has recently been reprinted and U.S.
distribution is through the American Association of Professional
Apiculturists (AAPA).  Its sixteen pages are jammed with text and
colored pictures and the price is bargain basement.  To receive a
copy, send a $3.00 check payable to AAPA to M.T. Sanford,
Secretary-Treasurer, AAPA, Bldg 970, Box 110620, Gainesville, FL
32611-0620.
 
                  BEEKEEPERS INSTITUTE REMINDER
 
     The brochures describing this year's Florida Beekeepers
Institute, August 21-23 at 4-H Camp Ocala, should have arrived in
your mailbox before this newsletter.   If you haven't received one,
call Ms. Glinda Burnett 904/392-1801, Ext. 142 or the IFAS Offices
of Conferences and Institutes, 904/392-5930.
 
Sincerely,
 
Malcolm T. Sanford
Entomology-Nematology, Bldg 970
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
Phone (904) 392-1801, Ext. 143
FAX: 904-392-0190
BITNET Address: MTS@IFASGNV
INTERNET Address: [log in to unmask]