>From: "Michael G. Byrne" <[log in to unmask]> >Date: Sun, 17 Sep 1995 15:14:24 -0700 >Subject: Apistan strips in hive during flow >I left 2 apistan strips on the brood chamber of a new hive all summer. After >rereading the instructions, I realize this is not the appropriate >technique, and the honey from this hive sould not be used. >Is this the correct conclusion? Hello Michael, Waste not, want not. Before you read this you must realize that life gives us all many choices and if you allow other's to chose for you, you may not be living. (A. Lincoln, class of '55) YES and NO! You were right about the instructions. If you use the honey yourself the amount of chemical and breakdown products should be low enough to be safe,(IMHO), if not the bee's would be dieing. You can reduce the amount of residue you will ingest by removing the wax capping and only consuming the honey as the wax has absorbed the majority of the active chemical. The amount of chemical you will be ingesting will be no more then what most absorb into their system through their skin as many beekeepers use no gloves when handling these strips and it is not uncommon to find them lose in their pick me up truck and around the junk in their honey barns or on the cabinet shelf on the back porch. It is well to remember that beekeepers may think they are buying pounds of active ingredients for the dollar's they are spending but factually they are getting a few pennies's worth and minuscule amounts of active material in an "so called" safe confident application package. I have seen many of these strips left out side the hive in regulatory use that had been chewed up by range cattle several times and never have heard of a cow getting sick or dieing from them. Many beekeepers today put the strips in the brood chamber's of their hives and never remove them, a violation of the label for sure, but a common use practice and one that could have been used to justified the reduction of the active ingredient in the product so that those who were able to use as directed,.. and then get a 2nd or 3rd use, now are 'peeing up a rope' as some old beekeepers would say. In my youth 'safetees' that one time were made of animal guts were then made of latex, a benefit from WW II. They were designed to be re-used, same as tires, by putting them in a glass of bedside water same as you would put your false teeth if you had any. Some may have used the same water glass. Today no one would think of doing this but beekeeper's who commonly re-use their prophylactic's used for vampire mites. If you market honey, like to a Honey Co-Op then it would be wise to send in a sample to be checked prior to shipping. Some Co-Op's like Sue Bee do regular checking for many chemicals known to be used by beekeepers, both approved and those not approved and each year some honey is rejected and returned to the honey producer. If the chemical is one that is not approved for use then they also "must" and do inform the authorities of what they found and the goon squad from Pure Food & Drug follows up with a visit to that producer to be sure that drum or 100 drums was destroyed or fed back to the bees, a sad day for that beekeeper. To bad the regulatory agencies are not as diligent with imported honey from China found containing added sugars, but now that they are going to get higher prices forced on them by our government they will not have to add as much. ttul Andy- (c)Permission to reproduce, granted. Opinions are not necessarily facts. --- ~ QMPro 1.53 ~ ~ Timer Malfunction! The sun went behind the clouds!