At a field day of the Western Cape Bee Industry Association, during which many of the substances and methods of combating Varroa and/or it's effects were discussed and evaluated, formic acid was also considered. The day was held mainly to evaluate the effects of Varroa and its resultant treatment - if any - on beehives used for intensive fruit pollination. It was made clear that the APPLICATION of Formic (protection of the bees from the acid and determination of a dosage) is still one of the problems that prevents regular use. Two methods were discussed of applying the acid. One made use of the typical inverted bottle system inside the hive, for delivering a regular supply of the vapour. The other method (my proposal) was to saturate a piece of absorbent padding (check the archives for more on this) that was previously slipped into a thin gauge plastic bag. It had been noticed that bees will immediately propolise up any absorbent padding containing formic acid in the hives. It has also been noted that bees will aggressively remove any thin gauge plastic bags from their hives. The combination means that the bees will start biting the bag to remove it, releasing the vapour, and then have it sealed up again. This process (and the even osmotic movement of the gasses through the bag material) should allow for a (fairly) regular dosage of Formic vapour. Trials have been done during the past spring pollination season using the pad and bag method. This method was decided on due to the lengthy time the bees spend doing pollination without being attended to. Any of the proprietary chemicals would have needed removal over this time. Beehives are moved in transit for up to four hours, closed completely with a nylon mesh bag in the entrance. Water is used to cool the hives in transit. Hives were provided with 30 ml of 80% (yes I know about the queen loss potential) irrespective of their size or condition. Pads were placed at the back of the brood nest on the brood frames. Some hives were not given anything. All hives that were of pollination standard were rented out successfully for an average of well over 2 pollinations per hive over nearly a three month period At the time of subjective evaluation after pollination, it seems - throughout all 600 colonies - as if hives that had been provided with Formic pads consistently showed better brood pattern, more honey in the supers and overall better health than did ones that were not. One hive, accidentally given two pads (one on the brood frames and one on the super frames) seemed better than any of the others. Drone brood was examined for Varroa and consistently showed no more than two Varroa per cell. Most cells showed none, the average being far below 0.5. (November is early summer and the Northern hemisphere equivalent of May). Not, granted, a scientific study, but one to add my experience to the Formic debate. Robert Post