In regard to the possible presence of fluvalinate or coumaphous in comb
honey wax, let's pause, take a deep breath, and understand what is going on
here.

First, when it comes to Apistan and CheckMite, both fluvalinate and
coumaphous were deliberately formulated to be hydrophobic.  In other words,
not likely to be absorbed into a liquid (think...honey).  As I understand
the chemistry, when items are hydrophobic they are highly likely to be
readily absorbed into solids (think...beeswax).

Honey has been tested hundreds of time for trace elements of fluvalinate and
coumaphous and, as I understand it, amounts found (if any) were
infinitesimal.  Even by FDA standards.  Drop in a swimming pool kind of
levels.

When coumaphous first came on the market (as CheckMite) the label said
(approximately) do not produce comb honey on a hive that had been treated
with coumaphous.  If you know of Ross Rounds (as do most beekeepers in the
world), you can understand that I got slightly nervous.  With some
difficulty, I managed to find the person at the FDA who was responsible for
the label wording and timidly asked 'where did this restriction come from'?

She told me that the restriction was requested by Bayer, but they had no
evidence to back it up.  The FDA said they would allow it, but only if Bayer
agreed to do studies in the first year to either support the restriction or
have it dropped.  Thankfully, the studies showed no evidence of coumaphous
in comb honey (wax or liquid) and the restriction was dropped in the
second-year label.

Think about it, except for the foundation, all of the beeswax in comb honey
comes directly from the bees' bodies.  So unless some beekeeper uses
coumaphous or fluvalinate *while comb honey supers are on the hive*, that
portion of the beeswax will not contain the chemicals.

How about the foundation?  That really worried me and I spent a reasonable
amount of money having comb honey foundation tested for the presense of
coumaphous or fluvalinate.  No measurable amounts were ever found.  I
understand the manufacturers of comb honey foundation have also done such
testing, with the same result.  Why aren't the chemicals being found when
they are present in 'large' concentration in wax from brood combs?  Dunno, I
could speculate but I won't except to say that comb honey foundation can
only be made from wax that largely comes from cappings...(which come
directly from bees' bodies).

Finally, it is real interesting to me that some on this list are really
getting excited about the levels of the chemicals in brood comb.  These
levels have been widely known for about 10 years.  They were not kept a
secret, but neither was their presense the stuff of headlines.  You
know...the Alvar effect.

I am coming up on my fourth year without using any artificial pesticides (I
use acids, sugar and drone brood control), as are many of you.

No, I would not buy comb honey from the gunslingers out there.  But the comb
honey you and your neighbors produce is one of the most wonderful foods the
world has ever known.  Let's keep it that way.

Lloyd



-- 
Lloyd Spear
Owner Ross Rounds, Inc.
Manufacture of equipment for round comb honey sections,
Sundance Pollen Traps, and producer of Sundance custom labels.
Contact your dealer or www.RossRounds.com

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