Message text written by Discussion of Bee Biology
>I am looking for a report and formula using Maverick with the use of
plywood
blocks that originated in Israel,  Would appreciate any help.  Thanks.
 
Mike
<
Mike,
 
Please don't even try! The use of agricultural pesticides such as Mavrick
to treat Varroa is extremely unwise, and is illegal in most countries.
 
A belief has developed amongst beekeepers in some countries  that since the
active ingredient (a.i) of such pesticides is the same as, or similar to,
those found in some  registered varroa treatments, then home-made pesticide
soaked wooden strips must be an equally good but cheaper alternative.
However, there are several reasons why this is not so.
 
A key problem is that it is impossible to achieve an accurate and
predictable dosage. This is because the amount of pesticide soaked up by
the strip is very variable and, more importantly,  the rate at which the
a.i is released from the strips will be completely different than for
commercially manufactured strips due largely to differences in the way the
a.i binds to the different materials used. Furthermore the emulsifiers and
other additives used to make the pesticide suitable for agricultural use
have not been shown to be safe for use in bee colonies, and are likely to
influence the behaviour of the a.i in the hive ,possibly making it more
likely to end up in honey. Concentrated pesticide solutions can also be
very toxic and hazardous to handle.
 
You might overdose your bees, risking harming them and leaving unacceptible
residues in bee products. Or you might underdose them and risk inadequately
controlling Varroa and  encouraging the development of pyrethroid resistant
mites -there is strong evidence that misuse of agricultural pyrethroid
pesticides in this way was the cause of the Varroa resistance to Apistan
now present in parts of Europe.
 
The economic cost of loosing your bees, or loosing consumer confidence in
your bee products is in the long run going to be vastly higher that the
cost of buying and using properly manufactured and tested varroa
treatments.
 
Better to stick to the safer alternatives.
 
James Morton
London UK