Flumethrin

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Yes it’s been seen in the states and a large uk bee farmer is reporting it this season. It’s not really a surprise it happened with apistan.
 
It's yet another synthetic pesticide that leaves residues in the comb. I wouldn't let the stuff anywhere near my hives!
 
Yes, I blame cheap imported wax!
 
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or (aka) Bayvarol in the bee industry ... any feed back on its reducing effectiveness as a Varroa control ...ta
Hi
You might find this paper useful, read it recently when deciding which varroa treatment to use. It summarises the research on different varroacides and resistance. Explains Amitraz resistances is much slower than Flumethrin & why. Also goes on to explain pros and cons of different options. Amitraz, whilst working more slowly than some treatments is very effective and doesn’t harm the queen.

https://pheromite.com/varroa-treatments-mode-action-resistance/
 
Hi
You might find this paper useful, read it recently when deciding which varroa treatment to use. It summarises the research on different varroacides and resistance. Explains Amitraz resistances is much slower than Flumethrin & why. Also goes on to explain pros and cons of different options. Amitraz, whilst working more slowly than some treatments is very effective and doesn’t harm the queen.

https://pheromite.com/varroa-treatments-mode-action-resistance/
Exmoor Bees reporting whole apiaries resistant
 
Resistance is probably inevitable, rabbits for example have managed to adapt/change their genes to cope with myxommitosis. When it was introduced to Australia at first it killed 99% or more of the poulation and was spread by mosquitoes. By the third mosquitoe season the virus only killed around 50% of the rabbit population.
 
I should perhaps have said "I blame cheap recycled wax" be it from UK or furrin sources. I'm not sure what can be done though. I buy sterilised foundation from National Bee Supplies because I like the idea of wax being heated to 125 deg C to kill off the pathogens. I don't know if this also breaks down the residues of amitraz, flumethrin etc - can anyone advise?
 
Some sources of cheap or imported wax are likely to contain far less crap than home produced. Much of the African stuff is actually very good. As to sterile wax it’s a bit of a red herring. Can you produce an instance of wax from a major supplier being the cause of a disease outbreak. It just does not happen!
 
Amitraz is not soluble in wax, so unlike flumethrin doesn’t accumulate to any significant extent. There’s ongoing work whether any of the breakdown products are found in wax and inconclusive to date.

See article explaining some of this, (scroll down to the heading toxicity and wax residues) in ‘The Apiarist’.

https://www.theapiarist.org/apivar-apitraz-amitraz/
Also research trials have been done by the manufacturer who have published similar findings. See p20 on the link about the treatment

https://www.thorne.co.uk/image/data/apivar-faq-Europe-2017.pdf
Like all treatments, has to be handled and disposed of with care, which the article covers.
Elaine
 

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