Purely from a clinical perspective I see a number of issues using unlicensed OA in the gasvap.
The first is that it lacks sugar. My perception is that the presence of sugar in the licensed formulation is deemed an inconvenience and a contaminant. But I suspect that the presence of sugar and the formation of HMF on heating may actually be intended therapeutically as a miticide:
"In a study by Milani (2001), the calculated LDso ofmites ranged from 0.68 to 1.90 pg OA/cmz.
Addition of glucose or glycerol to the OA was shown to increase mortality of mites, this was likely
being caused by the formation of small droplets (increased hygroscopicity). The effect appeared to be
higher against mites collected from adult bees compared to mites collected from brood.
In regard to the other ingredients in the formulation, the addition of glucose in combination with
glycerol was developed in order to increase the effectiveness."
From:
https://tinyurl.com/y4sm48nw
I also suspect that the licensed product being a combination product is less likely to result in resistance in the longer term as the presence of sugar is known to increase the efficacy of OA and combination therapies are less prone to resistance.
There is also the question of whether a convenient quick blast of OA via the gasvap is as effective and safe as the licensed product and its recommended method of administration. As far as I can see there have been no statistically significant studies performed to prove the safety or efficacy of the gasvap method.
The problem as I see it is that because it is convenient and cheap anecdotal use is heavily biased and colony losses may not be being correctly attributed to this method of treatment.
Just food for thought.
and I think Simon the beekeeper has stopped selling them. The VMD apparently have been in contact with a number of suppliers of unlicensed veterinary medicines that were being openly marketed in the UK making it plain that they are infringing the regs just offering products for sale ... I don't know whether this included OA being sold by beekeeping suppliers. However... if I were marketing apibioxal about the first thing I would do is find a way to stymie the competition... I would not suggest that they would but the only competition they have is generic OA ....
