Hello All, I want to thank all those which have sent me private email to improve my knowledge of the subject. Especially those in high places which say I am doing a great job and keep on with the formic acid discussion. Peter said: > My one and only point is that it is a mistake to use a product that is not > approved or use an approved product in an unapproved manner. Half the items in the kitchen have got homeopathic uses. in fact many books have been written on their use. I use salt to get rid of ants and Oatmeal to kill mice. The problem comes I have been told when I want to sell Oatmeal to kill mice or salt to kill ants on the open market. Then I need approval. According to my emails I do not need any approval for my own use. From a email I received on the subject: "Therefore the EPA does not regulate pesticides made for your own use but certainly DOES regulate *sales* of such pesticide products". "Therefore the EPA does not consider it an illegal treatment for a beekeeper to make or buy a device to despense formic acid in a beehive and buy the formic acid and use it for a mite control on their OWN BEES. THEY CANNOT HOWEVER SELL THIS TO ANYONE ELSE WITHOUT PROPER APPROVAL AND LABELING FROM THE EPA" The sender then asked me: If the above is correct is it really wise to persue label for use in beehives to treat for mites? The motion to push for full registration for formic acid was already on the table when I sat down in the commercial beekeepers sig at the ABF convention. After hearing both sides of the issue I thought maybe we do need formic acid as another weapon against varroa when our strips fail. After reading the above I wonder if registration is neccessary. Can any on the list shed light on the above? Further clarification from an email: "Now any use of an existing , registered and labeled pesticide in a manner not given on the label CLEARLY IS an illegal use." "WITHOUT FORMIC ACID BEING AN APPROVED ,LABELED PESTICIDE THERE IS NO LABEL TO BE ENFORCED" Further clarification from an email; "We know from research that has been done that treatment during no surplus honey production periods WILL NOT result in contamination of harvested honey and the EPA has exempted formic acid from a residue tolerance in honey IN PART because formic acid is normally found in many honeys." Granted if I put large doses of salt in my hive and the salt gets into the honey then the honey can be deemed contaminated and pulled from the market. This goes for any substance found in honey without a tolerance IF in a high enough quantity . So a homeopathic control for varroa could cause honey to be deemed unfit for human consumption if the PPB were high enough (even food grade mineral oil). What normally happens with chemical strips such as Apistan and Checkmite is that the makers go to the EPA and get a tolerance level established which is what has been done with both Fluvalinate (Apistan) and Coumaphos (Checkmite) when both started appearing in honey. Levels 38 times the tolerance level were found in Florida in wax of a migratory beekeeper using the illegal coumaphos product( source the former Florida Apiary inspection service). The EPA is not stupid. No matter what your story might be those levels can not be had using Checkmite strips. Regardless of what you read in the bee magazines. I have been told privately that a couple honey packers tried to get a tolerance for the antibiotic found in Chinese honey. In fact they might have succeded had not U.S. beekeepers raised hell! Bob :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::