APIS Volume 10, Number 7, July 1992
In this issue
- On Volunteering Your Beekeeping Experiences
- Thanking Those Who Have Helped
- Extender Patties & Formic Acid
ON VOLUNTEERISM
The use of volunteers to provide short-term consulting in beekeeping appears to be on the rise. For some apiculturists, this represents a productive use of time. Although the volunteer gets no salary, expenses are paid and one gets a much better idea of daily life in a specific area of the world than is possible when traveling as a tourist. It is definitely not a holiday; living conditions can be tough, and the working hours are long. Overseas assignments are not for everyone; would-be volunteers face a strict screening process to determine suitability and one must be as ready to learn as teach. But once one is selected, consulting with beekeepers in another setting can open a world of opportunity and excitement. For an account of my experiences as a volunteer in Egypt, see March 1992 APIS
If this idea appeals to you, two agencies that I know of in the business of recruiting volunteers in beekeeping can be contacted. They are Florida Association of Voluntary Agencies for Caribbean Action (FAVA/CA), 1311 Executive Center Drive, Suite 202, Tallahassee, FL 32301, ph 904/877-4705 and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance, Suite 1075, 50 F St. N.W., Washington, DC 20001, ph 202/383-4961. FAVA/CA, called Florida's Peace Corps by many, works strictly in the Caribbean, but VOCA is now sending volunteers to many parts of the world, including Eastern Europe and those independent states that used to comprise the Soviet Union.
IN THANKS
Scott Yocom would like to extend a sincere thank you to the Tampa Bay Beekeepers Association and the Manasota Beekeepers Association for their recent gifts to the Varroa research program at the University of Florida. Donations such as these enable research to continue even with state cutbacks. These funds are being used to support research relating to the susceptibility of Varroa to fluvalinate and amitraz for future monitoring of pesticide resistance.
Scott would like to also thank the Florida State Beekeepers Association for awarding him the honor of the Cal T. Albritton, Powers Honey Co., Researcher of the Year Award. Additional thanks go to Laurence and Eloise Cutts for their help and use of bees, Jerry Crews for his help in the Cocoa area, Bill Merritt and Jerry Latner of Dadant & Sons, Umatilla for equipment and bee donations, and Fred Rossman of Rossman Apiaries, Moultrie, Georgia for bee donations and equipment construction. This assistance materially helped to test new Apistan (R) strips in packages and hives, the use of one Apistan (R) strip for movement certification, and to test effect of brood comb type on Varroa reproduction.
Finally, thanks are given to Dr. Bill Gladney of Zoecon Corporation for major financial support of Dr. Harvey Cromroy's and Scott Yocom's Varroa research program. Scott will be winding up his course work and exams in the next few months and soon after will be in the final stages of writing his dissertation.
INSPECTOR FEEDBACK
Recently, the Florida state bee inspectors were in Gainesville for a feedback session. Three major concerns were expressed: increase in the use of extender patties; potential safety hazards of formic acid; and lack of a detailed management plan in many operations. Here are my thoughts on these issues:
Extender Patties: The idea behind extender patties is that the antibiotic used for controlling American foulbrood (AFB), Terramycin (R), retains (extends) its activity longer in vegetable fat than when administered as a dust or in syrup. It also takes the bees longer to consume these patties, thus one treatment can be applied in place of the several recommended on the EPA-approved TM 25 label for either dust or syrup. Finally, the chances of Terramycin (R) killing brood is minimized. Extender patty technology has not been fully employed in the past because a specific label for this use was not approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As is well known, it is a violation of the law to use any antibiotic on bee colonies without a label in hand.
The basic research on antibiotic extender patty (AEP) technology was done by Dr. Bill Wilson, now at the Weslaco Bee Laboratory. It was published under the title "Antibiotic Treatments that Last Longer" in American Bee Journal, September 1970, pp 348-351. The recipe used by Dr. Wilson is as follows: 1/3 lb vegetable fat + 2/3 lb granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons TM 25. This made a one-pound patty good for one treatment; Dr. Wilson has verbally stated that half-pound patties are also effective. A prime advocate of the technology was the late P.F. (Roy) Thurber, who published his observations on the technology entitled "Medication and Comb Rotation for AFB" in The Speedy Bee, December, 1980 and January, 1981. Unfortunately, Mr. Thurber's recipe varies from that of Dr. Wilson, confusing the issue. A more up-to-date technology is found in the September 1994 APIS.
Recently, there has been increased interest in extender patty technology because research indicates that administering vegetable shortening to bee colonies may reduce infestation levels of honey bee tracheal mites. Again, no specific label exists for this use. However, the possibility that AFB, as well as tracheal mites, can be controlled in one treatment is a powerful incentive to use AEPs.
Into this fray comes Mr. Jack Thomas of Mann Lake Supply. Using his own resources, Mr. Thomas has received a label for a product called Terra-Patties (R). It is based on the fact that TM 25 is an effective control of AFB and that vegetable fat, specifically Crisco (R), is just another carrier similar to powdered sugar or sugar syrup. In developing his formulation, Mr. Thomas found it extremely difficult to adequately mix the antibiotic evenly throughout the Crisco (R)-sugar mixture. In order to do this, he uses a specific, proprietary process. The problem of adequate mixing may be one reason why different recipes and results in effectiveness have been reported in the past.
Mr. Thomas reports good effectiveness in the field with his product, but to my knowledge, rigorous testing of the formulation backed up by published data is lacking. A strong argument for using Terra-Patties (R) is that they are processed far more uniformly than can be done by the beekeeper. Most importantly, however, the product has a label; it, therefore, becomes the only legal way I know to use this technology. For more information, contact Mann Lake Supply, County Rd. 40 & 1st St., Hackensack, MN 56452, ph 218/675- 6688. Mention of the above product is for information only. The Florida Cooperative Extension Service does not recommend purchase of the product and takes no responsibility for either its use or effectiveness. If there are other formulations of antibiotic extender patties with approved labels, I would appreciate hearing about them.
Formic Acid: I published information on the possible dangers of this material exactly one year ago. It bears repeating:
There's been a lot of information recently on use of formic acid for mite control. The material has several things going for it including the fact that it is a natural product, fairly inexpensive and is effective against both tracheal and Varroa mites. However, my colleague at the University of California in Davis, Eric Mussen, laments that some facts have been left out in all the folderol. First of all, the material doesn't have a label and so cannot be legally used. Second, it's potentially dangerous to users. Here's what he writes in his newsletter, From the UC Apiaries.
Formic acid is the simplest carboxylic acid with a formula of H-C-OOH. It has a molecular weight of 46.03 and is described as a "colorless, fuming liquid with a pungent, penetrating odor." It boils at 216 degrees F, melts at 35 degrees F, has a specific gravity of 1.2, a vapor pressure of 23 mm Hg at 20 degrees C, mixes well with water, alcohol, ether and glycerol, and has an odor threshold at 21 ppm.
Vapor-air mixtures of 18-57% are explosive, if the ambient temperature is at or above 122 degrees F and the mixture is ignited by a spark. The vapors are heavier than air and may travel a considerable distance to source of ignition and flashback. However, fire is not a major concern.
- Organic acids are dangerous materials to handle. If you spill formic acid on your skin, expect severe pain, brown or yellowish stains, burns that usually penetrate the full thickness of the skin, have sharply defined edges, and heal slowly with scar tissue formation. If you spill it on your clothes and don't wash it out, chronic exposure can lead to dermatitis (rash), protein precipitation, and red blood cells in urine.
- Splashed into eyes, formic acid causes pain, tears, blurred vision and photosensitization (lights are too bright). In severe cases, conjunctival edema (swelling around eyes) leads to destruction of corneas.
- If someone accidentally drank formic acid, it would cause severe burning pain in the mouth, throat and abdomen; followed by vomiting, watery or bloody diarrhea, tenesmus (painful straining during urination), retching, hemolysis (ruptured blood cells), hematuria (blood cells in urine), anuria, liver and kidney damage with jaundice, hypotension (low blood pressure), collapse, convulsions, coma and paralysis.
- The most subtle effects involve inhalation. Opening a container of formic acid in an enclosed space liberates fumes. At 100 ppm, the fumes are immediately dangerous to life and health. Inhalation at low concentrations causes tearing, rhinorrhea (runny nose), coughing, throat irritation, and headache. Higher concentrations may produce the previous symptoms, followed in six to eight hours by pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs), tightness in the chest, difficulty breathing, dizziness, frothy expectoration and cyanosis (bluish or purplish skin discoloration due to lack of oxygen in the blood). Breathing only a little at a time over prolonged periods can lead to erosion of the teeth, local tissue death in the jaw, bronchial irritation with chronic cough, frequent attacks of bronchial pneumonia and gastrointestinal disturbances.
If there is any good news in the story, it is that formic acid does not appear to be carcinogenic. It is a mutagen (causes mutations in genetic material).
Use of proper protective equipment is a must when handling formic acid. The chemical container should be opened only in a room with powerful exhaust ventilation. The acid is strong enough to eat through some forms of plastics, rubber and coatings. Employees must wear appropriate protective clothing and equipment to prevent any possibility of skin contact with this substance, including appropriate gloves, splash-proof or dust- resistant safety goggles and faceshield.
If a person is going to be in an atmosphere where there are 100 ppm (0.01%) formic acid, one of the following must be worn:
- A. Chemical cartridge respirator with an organic vapor cartridge and a full face mask.
- B. Dust, mist and fume respirator.
- C. Gas mask with an organic vapor canister (chin-style, front- or back-mounted canister).
- D. Supplied-air respirator with a full face piece, helmet or hood.
- E. Self-contained breathing apparatus with full facepiece.
Each Florida state bee inspector has been issued a Material Data Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) on formic acid for a reference. An emergency telephone number for the manufacturer, Fisher Scientific, 1 Reagent Lane, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410 is 201/796-7100.
Management Plan: A detailed management plan is an absolute necessity for beekeeping operations. There can be no standard recipe for this as each enterprise has a unique set of needs. A guide to Florida beekeeping exists, however, which describes generalized conditions around which a management plan is built. It is Florida Cooperative Extension Circular 537, A Florida Beekeeping Almanac. A possible management plan for mites and African bees can be seen in the February 1993 APIS.
Malcolm T. Sanford
Bldg 970, Box 110620
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
Phone (904) 392-1801, Ext. 143 FAX: 904-392-0190
http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~entweb/apis/apis.htm
INTERNET Address: MTS@GNV.IFAS.UFL.EDU
©1992 M.T. Sanford "All Rights Reserved
