Al told us of the label for Florida "SALE OF COMB HONEY FROM HIVES TREATED
WITH COUMAPHOS IS PROHIBITED."
(all caps in original).

As Al reported, the way this is worded once a hive is treated with
Coumaphos, comb honey can never be raised on this hive.

As far as I know, this label first turned up in the Georgia renewal, then
Washington (state), and now Florida.  A couple of us are trying to track
down the author to try to determine the intent.  No success, so far.

One state official, who shall remain unnamed, has gotten so far as to tell
me "no one thought very much about this, and clearly there was no intent to
forever ban the production of comb honey from a hive treated with
Coumaphos."  He suspects that the author intended something similar to the
14 day waiting period for extracting supers, but got the wording wrong.

We all know that the Coumaphos formulation is hydrophobic, which presumably
increases its affinity for wax.  However, I have never seen any studies or
reports implying that new beeswax can be contaminated by beeswax all ready
in the hive.

If we can determine that the wording is wrong, I would like to get it
corrected for states yet to get their renewal.  I understand that there is
no chance of changing the label for any of the states that have all ready
received their renewal.

If anyone on the list knows a contact within EPA that could shed some light
on the intent of this wording, please let me know.

Lloyd
Lloyd Spear, Owner, Ross Rounds, Inc.  The finest in comb honey production.
www.rossrounds.com