> Now I think those 2 products present very diffent food
> contamination risks. In fact, the idea of using cyanid
> in the hive still makes me fall down of my chair.

From a chemistry standpoint, neither presents ANY food
contamination risk when used to the best advantage of
each - both are so volatile that there will be nothing
left to contaminate honey or wax within... oh, I dunno,
certainly a day or two after use, perhaps much quicker.

> That makes me wondering what is wrong. Is liquid
> formic acid (FA) use for killing mites wrong ?

Its not approved for the purpose in the USA, but as you
are in Canada, you should know better than I if formic
is approved for beekeeping in Canada.  I think it is.
I was told by someone who tends to know such details that
the only reason that Canada has "approval" is that the
Canadian government itself "hold the license", and thereby,
carries the "liability insurance" to cover formic acid
injury claims.  Given that Canada has universal health
care, Canada can do such things.

In the USA, using formic in beekeeping is exactly no more
or less "wrong" than using sodium cyanide in beekeeping.
As I pointed out, on a annualized casualty-count basis,
formic acid is going to burn (or cause eye damage) a lot
more people than a cyanide powder would harm in any way,
so formic would appear to be "worse", given that we start
with an assumption that the only risk is to the beekeeper.
Its all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.

If you want to get technical, formic acid is going to kill
a certain percentage of queens, a certain percentage of
brood, and has been known to do enough damage to "kill"
the colony in some extreme cases.  So the relative technical
merits tend to weigh against formic acid, while poor cyanide
suffers from bad PR.  All those murder mysteries, ya know.  :)

> Let say I have 1L of FA for beekeeping application, stored
> in lab's packaging. Just a virtual speculation. What is that
> expensive Haz-Mat training suitable for handling formic I
> should have ?

If you need to ask, then you clearly are not qualified to
handle the stuff!  :)  First off, do you have kids?  If so,
you need to lock it up.  Second, have you read the paperwork
that came with the formic?  It should be supplied with
specific instructions for storage/handling, so if you need
to ask, you have not even read the instructions, a very common
problem among beekeepers.  :)

> 1L is enough for a fair numbers of year for a few hives...

As far as I know, 1 liter would be enough for no more than
four 250ml hive treatments, so even a typical hobby beekeeper
is going to buy, store, and handle more than 1 liter a year.
(I'm saying 250ml because this is the dose I've seen used in
the Mite-Away literature).

> Or is it wrong that the law will not be modified because
> nobody has interest to pay in order to obtain the use of a
> cheap efficient treatment's authorization ? (and I am not
> sepaking about a commercial specific products here,
> just liquid FA).

By the same logic, the "true crime" is that a cheap and
highly efficient wax-moth control that leaves no residue
at all is not permitted in beekeeping only because no one
wishes to pay for EPA studies about sodium cyanide!  Should
we send protest letters and file briefs in defense of whoever
got caught using (and losing) some sodium cyanide?

Face it - neither sodium cyanide or bulk liquid formic acid
are ever going to be "approved" in the USA, regardless of how
many studies are submitted.  In Canada, the larger beekeepers
have convinced the government that they can conduct their
business in a professional and competent manner, so they get
more leeway on Haz-Mat issues.  Here in the US, we just had
a beekeeper LOSE A DRUM OF SODIUM CYANIDE OUT OF THE BACK OF
HIS TRUCK SOMEWHERE ALONG A ROAD so claims about "professionalism"
are going to have to wait just a bit.  ^.^



         jim (For the 6th year in a row, an American has
              on a Nobel Prize in Economics. If we're so smart...)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::