Well ... the jury's out ... the argument is that you are treating frames that are NOT in the hive for wax moth ... you are not treating the bees for a disease/infestation. So, although they are not licensed treatments, even as a non treater, I take the view that they do not need licensing as long as they are not used within an active hive but as a preventative, prophylactic treatment for preserving equipment.
Whether:
a) There is any appetite for the VMD to take someone to court for using them in this manner.
b) Whether they would win.
Who knows ? ...Certainly,whether a hobbyist is likely to be brought to Court is debateable.
If you were to take this to a logical progression - where does the protection of equipment with a proprietary product become a licensing matter. I treat my stands with Sadolin to prevent them deteriorating from weathering and wood eating insects, I paint my polystyrene hives to stop them deteriorating - I wash my hive tools in washing soda and if they ever need it use Cilit Bang to clean the inside of my poly hives and kill any bacteria prior to storage.
Where do you stop and where does common sense prevail ?
Dipel and Zentari are both natural treatments - the Bacillus is a naemoatode - it infects the wax moth grub at a very early stage and prevents it developing, ultimately killing it in the same way naemoatodes used in the garden will safely and naturally kill slugs.
There are times when I rather think the VMD should get a grip of these issues, step up and accept that products like this are extensively used and provide a free from license guidance for their use. I have a similar issue with generic OA by sublimation ... the law is an ass sometimes.
it's very much a niche product - even within the beekeeping community.
