Is this legal to use in the UK ??

[ROACHMAN]

Item has Amitraz as the active ingredient is it likely to be seized at customs ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320840513808?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648

 

[MuswellMetro]

Item has Amitraz as the active ingredient is it likely to be seized at customs ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320840513808?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648

it is only legal to use if imported via a Vet as a VPM under cascade agreement Annex 2

it use if not imported by that route is illegal ( cough)

i have used it at a problem apairy with heavy infeststion and DWV on one hive that did not seem to drop well with apiguard, after application very low residual mite count and it knocked 700 off after what i though was a reasonable drop under apiguard on an adjacent hive ( i had to treat the hole apairy not just the problem hive)

 

[mbc]

Amitraz is the active ingredient in apivar ( I believe ) which is legal to use in the UK if you get a vet to prescribe it to you, whether this applies to little sticks of wood soaked in amitraz sent by a dodgy poaching net salesman though, I doubt very much.
Might be worth buying some just to test how robust our customs procedures are.

 

[Poly Hive]

Bargepole comes to mind.

PH

 

[MuswellMetro]

Bargepole comes to mind.

PH

cat flea powder(amitraz) on a stick is a bit smaller than a bargepole, but i would not buy such an unkown and unauthorized treatment

when i cleaned my hives after use of Apivar, i did a full frame change and washed out the broods,

 

[Dishmop]

is it likely to be seized at customs

depends what they put on the declaration..

or if they have sniffer bees at the airport...

 

[BBG]

Well, when Trading standards, Customs et al knock the door, the insurance man should be over the horizon and the children's inheritance on the way to the dogs.

Ditto you,your OHs lives and beekeeping will face a tranche of regulations that will make it sooooo expensive, only the big boys will want it.

Polyhive is dead right.

Fera keep saying don't use anything they don't recommend.

 

[johna]

Having had resistant mites I have used Apivar now for a couple of years with excellant success.It can stay in the hive for a longer period than Apistan or Bayvarol and,according to the accompanying blurb leaves no traces in honey or wax.Mine came from a Scottish vet who is licenced to import it from France and is for my exclusive use.It is illegal for me to pass any excess strips to another beekeeper,i.e it is treated like a vetinary medicine.I would suggest that you purchase from flea bay at your own risk and I think such a transaction would be considered illegal by the ministry.

 

[VEG]

Anyone who buys it illegally deserves to be caught, as it will give beekeepers a bad name.

 

[BBG]

Anyone who buys it illegally deserves to be caught, as it will give beekeepers a bad name.

Wholehearedly and it will cause massive problems in the lash-back if the public are affected.

 

[Norton]

Is this legal to use in the UK ??

If it is not registered for use in the UK then its use is illegal.

This brings us to one of my all time favourite slagging subjects: the uneven playing field of the EU. Each country is different and a product registered in one doesn't mean that its use is permitted in another. For example, generally the use of antibiotics on bees in the EU is prohibited, the UK managed to get an exception to this for Fumidil B for Nosema and terramycin for EFB. Fumidil has now had the exception withdrawn and will only be available whilst stocks last. So theoretically UK honey can contain antibiotic residues and could be sold in any other EU country legally whereas a honey produced in that country would not be allowed to have any residues.

So, honey produced in a country where amitraz is registered would be allowed to have residues of the chemical in its honey and sell that honey anywhere else in the EU without a problem. UK produced honey is not permitted to contain amitraz residues.

Amitraz is not registered for use in Greece or Cyprus. Homemade treatments of this as the active ingredient are widely used. The health departments have carried out extensive tests with a 10PPB level of detection. The results? ZERO residue! Why? because it is a very unstable chemical and breakdowns quickly in both honey and wax leaving no residue.

One of the reasons for non-registration in other countries is that the amitraz treatments are often useless, because of breakdown, by the time they are used.

Checkmite + is registered for use in Greece and Cyprus, but not in any other EU countries as far as I know. A MRL exists however for the active ingredient (coumaphos) due to the registration of another Bayer product Perizin. So, coumaphos residues throughout the EU are OK. Believe me, you do not want coumaphos in your hives.

Same goes for labeling: In the UK the use of the word "Pure' is permitted, but not in Greece and Cyprus and probably some other EU countries. So, a honey packer could import honey from say China, bottle and label it as "Pure Honey", export it to Cyprus and it sits on the shelf with a marketing advantage. This actually happens. Unfair? YES! legal? YES!

I urge all readers to not re-cycle wax from brood combs into foundation because of contamination issues. Only wax from cappings should be used for foundation and if possible use your own wax for your foundation.

Stay away from all hard chemical treatments and try to only use thymol and or oxalic acid only. They have their downside as well on the bees but at least do not polluted wax with potent toxins that are impossible to get rid of. It's all a trade off between the good, the bad and the ugly = benefits/negatives/Varroa.

 

[drstitson]

well said Norton.

 

[The Cumbrian]

While I agree with what you say Norton it does raise an interesting point. To achieve uniformity in the EU there would have to be much more agreement/regulation.

How many times have you heard complaints about "the EU telling us what to do" you can't have one without the other - IMO

 

[Poly Hive]

I remember some years ago a Sunday morning program where some young guns from the EU were interviewed. Their view of a super state was not one I shared, and they were amazed when the interviewer suggested that their view was not a common one in the UK.

I for one would be quite happy not to be a part of it, and then certain radical clerics could be thrown out.

PH

 

[drstitson]

"While I agree with what you say Norton it does raise an interesting point. To achieve uniformity in the EU there would have to be much more agreement/regulation.
How many times have you heard complaints about "the EU telling us what to do" you can't have one without the other - IMO"

Doesn't need to have more regulation JUST a level playing field.

No point having standards if they mean nothing in practice other than to make producers uncompetitive in an EU or global marketplace.

IMHO NO produce should be allowed to be imported or sold in the UK if not produced to UK standards. simple. what is the point worrying about animal welfare or pesticide/chemical residues in UK produce if all that happens is that cheaper sources from who knows where are used instead.

 

[scuttlefish]

This brings us to one of my all time favourite slagging subjects: the uneven playing field of the EU. Each country is different and a product registered in one doesn't mean that its use is permitted in another.

Amen to that. In Ireland only Apiguard, Bayvarol and Apibioxal are licensed*, and Apibioxal only very recently, so we're even more limited. That said, our mites seem to be about ten years behind GB/continent for resistance, so Bayvarol has only reached the end of its useful life here in the past year. Perhaps there's something to be said for drip-releasing treatments into geographically confined regions.

(* - I'm open to correction on that, but there are a lot of treatments allowed elsewhere in the EU but not in Ireland yet...)

 

[Dishmop]

Same goes for labeling: In the UK the use of the word "Pure' is permitted, but not in Greece and Cyprus and probably some other EU countries. So, a honey packer could import honey from say China, bottle and label it as "Pure Honey", export it to Cyprus and it sits on the shelf with a marketing advantage. This actually happens. Unfair? YES! legal? YES!

Same sort of crap happens in this country.

Supermarkets selling "Produce of the UK" The pie might have been made in the UK but the ingredients came from all over the world.
Imported chicken meat... Open packet... Put salt on and its then a product of the UK.

Oh... and be wary of cheap Ready Meals.....

 

[The Cumbrian]

Doesn't need to have more regulation JUST a level playing field.

Basically my point. How do you get a level playing field across twenty odd countries without some form of agreed regulations and a method of enforcing them?

No point having standards if they mean nothing in practice other than to make producers uncompetitive in an EU or global marketplace.

IMHO NO produce should be allowed to be imported or sold in the UK if not produced to UK standards. simple. what is the point worrying about animal welfare or pesticide/chemical residues in UK produce if all that happens is that cheaper sources from who knows where are used instead.

I suspect we would have a rather serious food shortage. However much of the blame lies with the retailer IMO as for example if they didn't buy say bacon from other countries there would be more UK producers.

 

[MuswellMetro]

so is your Bread British?....Canadian wheat predominates is all our loaves

 

[Dishmop]

I think the general idea is that the powers that be dont want us to produce anything in the UK, because if we did, then we wouldnt need to import so much food and that wouldnt be fair to the rest of the EU.