Widespread Occurrence of Chemical Residues from Apiaries Located in Different Landsca

Interesting Gary. I wonder if separate countries did the same study what they would find.
I don't know of too many people that even use Coumaphos so I doubt that it would show up in as significant a manner. Apivar (Amitraz) seems to be the flavour of the day here lately though.

I didn't study the full report carefully, but allow me a few comments.
1. The ability to detect minute quantities of substances by currently used lab tools has risen dramatically over the last several years.
2. The measurements used ng/g (nanograms per gram) can also be written as PPB (parts per billion).
3. If you look at the amounts detected in those samples (and not the % of samples in which residues were found), the numbers are a lot less scary. :mrgreen:

Americasbeekeeper said:

Widespread Occurrence of Chemical Residues in Beehive Matrices from Apiaries Located in Different Landscapes of Western France
The analysis revealed that 95.7%, 72.3% and 58.6% of the honey, honey bee and pollen samples, respectively, were contaminated by at least one compound. The three most frequent residues were the widely used fungicide carbendazim and two acaricides, amitraz and coumaphos, that are used by beekeepers to control Varroa destructor.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0067007

Click to expand...

I was at the Tampa Bay Beekeeper's Association a couple of years ago when Jaime Ellis (UF) gave a talk about this exact thing. They had analyzed the wax and found chemicals that were banned in the US, along with all the other bad things.

Hope you're doing well.

Lauren

Coumaphos is Checkmite + used for Varroa and small hive beetles.
The National Honey Bee Survey in the USA found similar results. Very little is from the beekeeper except Coumaphos, Tau-fluvalinate, and Amitraz. Most is brought home by foragers. This becomes more obvious as most of the antibiotics are in animal watering troughs not from bee suppliers.
The big question Dr. Jamie Ellis is working on now is how many PPB can adults and larvae tolerate. If you are fortunate enough to live and work near such researchers they are usually looking for experienced beekeepers to assist in research. There is a new manual, actually set of manuals, for bee research just published by Dr. Ellis.

I think folks that used Checkmite (Coumaphos) discovered that mites quickly became resistant. It also apparently left high residue.
Apistan (Fluvalinate) was used for a very long time and eventually stopped working. Interestingly though, after a prolonged absence of use it appears it may be of use again.
Apivar (Amitraz) is used a lot now. I believe I read in one of Randy Oliver's writings that Amitraz dissipates fairly quickly.

I participate in the National Honey Bee Survey which means I get a read out on my own samples + what show up in other folks hives. It is pretty starting to find what might be in your own hives even if you do not treat. The long list of all the products found in hives across the country does make you wonder how bees survive at all given the level and extent of contamination. It has long been known that a colony of bees is a fairly good monitor of contamination.

I remember, from the days before DDT was outlawed, advertisements that pointed out how high levels of DDT were showing up in the breast milk of nursing mothers. Obviously, they were picking it up from the environment on the various foods they were eating, those plants that had been sprayed directly or animals that had fed on foods sprayed. No one accused them of being treated directly with the long-lasting residual poison that was so much in use.

Today the "fearmongers" are blaming neonicotinoids for colony collapse. Truth is CCD is in almost every country and only 70 of 155 have neonics. Drama is so much easier to sell than reality.