Johna,
OA is NOT allowed in the UK at present - officially.....
Firstly, I strongly object to your ignorance comment. While oxalic is a generic substance and therefore not 'VMD' approved makes little difference to the fact that ten years ago the bee inspectorate certainly did not regard oxalic acid treatment as anything more than 'must not use' but in recent years have actively encouraged its use for the treatment of varroa infestations - even to the point where they recommend winter trickling as a means of protecting ones bees (if one knows no better, presumably). That to me is fairly official, well documented and pretty well accepted by most. Or are you suggesting that all those using oxalic acid are breaking some law? Now that would be a bit of a problem!
It is, if you read the FERA document, acceptable as long as it is not found to be contaminating the product from your hive (routine honey testing) - just like thymol etc.
So one can likely use just about whatever you like as long as you are not offering honey to anyone else? Just like using a grotty mild steel/galvanised extractor for your honey collection, etc etc. The routine honey testing appears to be within the rights of FERA but that may be a legal problem if not actually harvesting any honey from those bees (like no supers on the hive)?
Efficacy has nothing to do with it as far as I am concerned; there are treatments which may be just as efficient but would leave behind unacceptable traces of pesticide residues, even if only in the wax; there are treatments which may have lower efficacy but could be repeated at very short regular intervals.
I do hope that you are not so s----d as to assume that I do not treat for varroa whenever necessary (that is how I avoid seeing all those nasties you refer to in summer). My comment that you must have been using it before the bee inspectorate condoned/allowed/promoted/whatever still stands. Either that or you were not telling the truth in your previous post.
Further,
Because the winter is a BROODLESS period the mites
Wrong again! Don't be so parochial. See Bob's post on this thread:
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21932
OA is NOT allowed in the UK at present - officially.....
Firstly, I strongly object to your ignorance comment. While oxalic is a generic substance and therefore not 'VMD' approved makes little difference to the fact that ten years ago the bee inspectorate certainly did not regard oxalic acid treatment as anything more than 'must not use' but in recent years have actively encouraged its use for the treatment of varroa infestations - even to the point where they recommend winter trickling as a means of protecting ones bees (if one knows no better, presumably). That to me is fairly official, well documented and pretty well accepted by most. Or are you suggesting that all those using oxalic acid are breaking some law? Now that would be a bit of a problem!
It is, if you read the FERA document, acceptable as long as it is not found to be contaminating the product from your hive (routine honey testing) - just like thymol etc.
So one can likely use just about whatever you like as long as you are not offering honey to anyone else? Just like using a grotty mild steel/galvanised extractor for your honey collection, etc etc. The routine honey testing appears to be within the rights of FERA but that may be a legal problem if not actually harvesting any honey from those bees (like no supers on the hive)?
Efficacy has nothing to do with it as far as I am concerned; there are treatments which may be just as efficient but would leave behind unacceptable traces of pesticide residues, even if only in the wax; there are treatments which may have lower efficacy but could be repeated at very short regular intervals.
I do hope that you are not so s----d as to assume that I do not treat for varroa whenever necessary (that is how I avoid seeing all those nasties you refer to in summer). My comment that you must have been using it before the bee inspectorate condoned/allowed/promoted/whatever still stands. Either that or you were not telling the truth in your previous post.
Further,
Because the winter is a BROODLESS period the mites
Wrong again! Don't be so parochial. See Bob's post on this thread:
http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21932
