Here is an e-mail I wrote in response to someone who posted their formic acid use to one of the bee yahoo groups I belong to. Everyone else who responded to this person dropping acid on their bees were mostly concerned with both the toxic issues around formic and how that particular colony would be effected. I thought it was interesting that no one commented on the ramifications of using formic acid on the species as a whole. Don't get me wrong, I'm not soap boxing it here, I've dropped acid myself. I'm just saying if you chose to use chemicals in your hives the long term pay off may be great for your bees but let's look at what it means for the rest of the bees in your immediate area.
Dear Blabity Bla....
Hello, my name is Rob Keller, I'm a sustainable beekeeper in Napa. I see your point of view with the formic. For the most part I treat my bees organically w/o treatments of any kind. I even quit powdered sugar last year, although sometimes I still use it as a diagnostic. Like you, this year I did drop acid on one of my colonies. Not because I was particularly attached to this hive, like yours, it too was a swarm of unknown origin. I really just wanted to see the ramifications of using formic acid. I have read a lot about it through the work Rudolf Steiner and Gunther Hauk so I was curious. The colony I chose to use it on late last fall was riddled with varroa, curly wing, and presenting signs of HBPMS. Any other time of year I would have most definitely chosen to re-queen from my more sturdy survivor stock - which in most cases can clear up the problem if caught early enough. I have been watching this medicated colony very closely all winter and I am slightly frustrated because coming into spring it is doing far better than any of my other hives I didn't treat. However, there is one thing we will have to be aware of in our intervention: Now that we have saved our own colonies what have we done for the species over-all. Yes, the treatment is benign but that colony is now producing genetically compromised drones that have little or no resistance to the varroa. Drones are reared first thing in the spring, I'm already seeing them.
The plan for my formic colony is to put the hive as a priority for the first possible queen this spring and discontinue the formic treatment. I believe long term use of chemicals in our hives is detrimental to the species, they will never develop their own resistance. My one-time use of the formic acid was to see if I could salvage a doomed hive that would otherwise have died over the winter.
This fall I watched a friends hive CTD - circle the drain - from varroa infestation. It frustrated me immensely because she lost a hive that was one of the most productive hives I have ever seen in terms of honey production. Her bees filled super upon super when all the other bees in our rural intense monoculture were starving. To me, we need to preserve that genetic pool to selectively breed into our own local indigenous bees. Unfortunately, even if it means temporarily using formic acid to get the bees out of a sticky sitch. I am by no means an advocate for treating hives long term. I think you need to consider this with your colony too. If we want to help strengthen the honeybee species we can't continue to foster poor genetics. May I suggest this spring you take a close look at all your hives and divide the strongest colonies showing resistance and re-queen the rooftop hive in Oakland with a more sustainable stock. I don’t mean to appear overly critical. However, all the discussion on the forum is based on the effects of the bees in the hive being treated with no mention of the long term effects to the species.
I have a blog – I’d appreciate your feedback.
www.napavalleybeecompany.com
Generally, I never chime in on the yahoo group but I appreciate what you bring
into the mix and felt like you'd be okay with my input.
Rob
On an up note everyone around me is telling me it's spring:
Ahhhh! the first pinky sting of the season. You know it's spring with the first sting...
Split this hive to have a quick peak, not quite moved up to the second hive body.
These girls on the other hand are ready for a super.
Never too old to learn.
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