Dale in Central Indiana wonders about treatments used by commercial
beekeepers.
 
Dave, you are fortunate in that Indiana has excellent local and statewide
bee club associations.  If you haven t joined one or more of these, I
suggest you do so.  These meetings are a great place to get real hands-on
advice, with more practical detail than is feasible by e-mail.
 
In the US, the only approved treatments are Apistan for Varroa and menthol
for tracheal mites.  Formic acid is not approved, and is considered unlikely
to get approved in liquid form.  The hope is that the gel form will get
approved.  (There is another chemical product approved for Varroa, but the
manufacturer has withdrawn it from the market.)
 
While not formally approved, patties made from vegetable shortening (Crisco)
and sugar are effective against tracheal mites and are widely used.  As both
ingredients are totally edible, their use seems safe.
 
Now, commercial beekeepers vary all over the lot on what they actually do.
Some treat  by the book .  Others use treatments that are scary!   The USDA
and presumably the FDA as well, are well aware that treatments are being
used that are not approved.  To the extent that the treatments are not
approved only because they are dangerous to the applicator (i.e., they are
not dangerous to the consumer of honey), I can understand the agencies
looking the other way.  I understand that at most dosages and under most
conditions, liquid formic acid falls into this group.  And, of course,
liquid formic acid is approved and widely used in other countries.  However,
I believe it is widely known that some commercial beekeepers are using
chemicals other than fluvalinate (the active ingredient in Apistan) and
still others are applying fluvalinate in manners that have not been
approved.  It is this latter group that might get all beekeepers in trouble
by getting honey on the market that is  contaminated .
 
My knowledge of alternative treatments is hearsay, so I won t provide more
details.
 
For now, Apistan and sugar/grease patties are largely  doing the job .
(There is some resistance to Apistan, but so far, it is limited.)
 
Lloyd
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Owner, Ross Rounds  the finest in comb honey production.