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Subject:
From:
Dee Lusby <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 25 Sep 2003 22:15:30 -0700
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Hi All:

I wrote:
>For how long is the honey unsafe by WHO standards
following
>treatment(s)?
>

To which Keith Benson replied:
WHO does not say the honey is unsafe.  To quote Dr.
Simoneau "a spring treatment with formic acid, the
concentration rose to close to 300 mg/kg which is quite far
from the maximum daily intake as suggested by WHO".

Reply:
Now let's look at some more sites (including WHO):

Here I found a page with figures on residues of Arsenic and
heavy metals
http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/v38aje03.htm

Other sites with info about FA
http://www.basf.com/static/OpenMarket/Xcelerate/Preview_cid-974236975911_pubid-9
74236725646_c-Article.html

http://www.nsc.org/library/chemical/FormicAc.htm

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formic_acid

My reflection upon this is that FA may well be natural in
honey. Many substances are that are poisonious in bigger
amounts, like selen for example and table salt. But the
thing with FA used for treating bee colonies is that you
use a concentration, a dose hey wildly higher than in those
amounts naturally occuring in honey.

FA has thus become a posion in the same way as selen and
table salt in higher doses. Intended for mites of course,
but also having impact on bees. Some development stages of
the bees are so sensitive for the concentration used that
they die too.

How much are the rest of the bees influenced? Lowered
immune system? I bet!Length of live?

Therefore it's very important to keep a low population of
mites all the time to not let the virus have a too big
impact on the bee colony.

FA in treatment doses are burning the trachea of the bees.
No wonder, they would burn your lungs too. Cut a treated
bee and look at the trachea under a microscope.

Another thing with FA is that it is not produced totally
clean, that is there are residues in FA of heavy metals and
stuff, and that they evaporate together
with the FA and get in now all parts of the hive
(combs/propolis). You'll get enough residues of such
stuff to make your honey unclean. It's not only
pyrethroids, coumaphos and drugs like that, that are risky
business in this respect.

Maybe unclean FA is a bigger risk as the residues here are
water soluble and not fat soluble (then it would get in the
wax instead). How much of it is it
in FA then? Good question.

There are limits for how much you can have of arsenic
and heavy metals in it and still use it in connection with
food production for humans. But wouldn't it be interesting
to make an evaporation test for the amount of FA used in a
couple of years and see how much really stayed in the hive,
honey and wax? It could mean at least 15 mg (if the FA
is "clean" enough to pass the limits for the substances) of
arsenic and heavy metals (when one liter has evaporated in
the hive, which could be done in 2-3 years). Is that
dangerous? I mean how much enter the honey that is
extracted to be later eaten? And how much of it will then
continue in the future to influence the life of the bees?
And does it accumulate and become more dangerous with time?

I think some research needs to be done here! A few
questions asnwered as to the safety of FA, and where will
our industry bee in the future with mass usage of it? Good
or bad. . . .what are predictions.

Any comments?

Regards,

Dee A. Lusby
Commercial Beekeeper
http:groups.yahoo.com/group/organicbeekeepers






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