At 07:37 PM 9/8/98 -0400, you wrote:
>> Posting questions like that here in an international list group with so
>> many US bee keepers only gets you lots of remarks about the legalities of
>> its use as here in the US its use is not allowed at this time in the US
>> because of problems with bee kills in the one prescribed product that was
>> in use for a short time
> You really should do a bit of research before you make such comments.
Hi Vince and Friends,
I did just that and that was my reason for a reply to all and to the tread,
I did not intend it as a personal attack on you or anyone else,,, but if
the shoe fits.
Here is a easy to read site on Amaitrize, its uses and safety concerns. It
may not be a on shore US site for good reason, as at least one beekeeper
can testify too that, but this site is relied on by those in the world and
the US looking for general chemical information without the US politics or
police.
http://www.nccnsw.org.au/member/tec/projects/tcye/tox/Amitraz.html
>Efforts to develop a product to control varroa based on amitraz were
>discontinued in this country because there is already too much amitraz in
the food supply.
This is a nice thought and story and I for one agree, but IMHO it is just
not true. New Amitraz products continue to be registered in the US and
around the world for products such as pet strips or collars to kill ticks,
dog manage soaps, crop protection, and other animal husbandry products and
even to vector control of pests on varmints that may spread disease to man
such as lyme or the black plague.
Years ago a section 18 use permit was granted Amitraz for bee mite control
and was interesting because it does kill both mites. Miticur was the brand
name of a formulation for bees in a one use applicator strip that was test
marketed in a limited area. No Amitraz products that I know of are at this
time registered for beekeeping use in the US and the one that was, Miticur,
was pulled by the formulator because of bee kill problems not food residue
problems as it never was in use long enough or used on enough hives to have
that problem.
Other products such as Ovasyn, a cotton insecticide formulation of Amitraz,
could be registered if any formulator wanted to do the work now required
for registration which because of the cost makes it less likely because of
the small $$$ use requirements of the bee industry. They would not
necessarily have to be in a single use package which are used because of
the added $$$ value and quick return of capital from retail sales and not
because they are the best or even the safest use of the active chemical. It
is interesting that Amitraz and Fluvalinate are no longer rud's, restricted
use products, in some areas.
>Although debatable, additional uses could increase
>this amount beyond acceptable levels. At least that is what the people
>at the EPA told me. It could be that they are wrong about this but I
>must admit that I am not qualified to dispute them.
I agree with what you and they say and the right to say it. But it is not
necessarily the way it is or was. IMHO
>Perhaps the stockmen you mentioned could be persuaded to explain how they
have >determined the safety of their methods.
If you are really interested I can provide you with enough information to
turn your brain to mush and you will be an expert on Amitraz but will know
little more then what you can find for yourself in any good library or on
the Internet. If you are a US beekeeper it would do you little good as no
Amitraz product is registered for use in bee hives.
>My response to the original post has nothing to do with he legality of
>the mentioned product in the US. I simply stated that following the
>directions on the label of such a product is its only safe use, and
>since my policy is to err on the safe side in such matters I would give
>the same advice I gave in my previous post, to anyone, in any country.
It is always better NOT to use any pesticide around bee hives depending on
what the loss of those bee hives means to your ability to provide yourself
or your family and enjoy life's simple things like food, clothing and
housing but if you don't have these problems then your perspective is like
those of the fisherman with not shoes so without them you can not walk in
the shoes of others working in the glass factory. I have walked the path of
NO chemicals,, I don't like pesticides, I don't like Amatriz, I don't like
Foovaluate, I don't even like the people who try to sell these things to
others, but if my neighbor beekeeper is down because his bees are going
down and asks for help I for one will try to help him in protecting his
bees with pesticides such as Amatriz or any other I know about that other
beekeepers have reported to be useful, that does not mean I have to change
my own mind on whats right for me or that what others are doing is wrong.
ttul, the OLd Drone
Los Banos, California
http://beenet.com
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