> >I have been told that what is used in the miteaway pads is a formic > stearic > solution. > Bob, it is proprietary, and I don't know for sure, but I believe that it is a formate ester. I approached a chemist 20 years ago to see if I could come up with essentially the same thing. An ester is a compound made by combining an organic acid and an alcohol, removing a molecule of water in the process. If you add water back, the chemical may break back down to the original components. As I understand it, Miteaway works in such a fashion--it absorbs moisture from the hive, and slowly releases the formic acid that is formed. Simple soaking in formic would not recharge that same way. Randy Oliver *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Access BEE-L directly at: http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L