The varroa mite is the number one killer of honeybees today!
This little blood sucking mite creates wounds in the body of a developing baby bee and then infests them with viruses which spread quickly to the entire colony. In proportion, it would be like a human having 4 or 5 ticks the size of a basketball on their bodies. Ewwww, I can’t even imagine this! Can you?
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| Varroa mites on a bee pupae (baby bee) |
Here is your chance to ask the EPA to help the bees combat these nasty little blood suckers!
Oxalic acid, a naturally occurring chemical found in many of the foods we eat, is a very effective control mechanism for varroa mites. Oxalic Acid has been registered and used in Europe for around 20 years. It kills the varroa mite by desiccating the mite's mouth parts. The disruption caused by oxalic acid to the honeybee is minimal and far less devastating than the loss of the entire colony: which is sure to follow in the event of a varroa mite infestation.
Currently, the EPA is reviewing the use of oxalic acid as an in-hive miticide. For those unfamiliar with the process, the government opens up a comment period to new product registrations such as this one. It is during this time frame that we need to be proactive and state that oxalic acid needs to be available as an option for beekeepers in the United States.
If you like to eat, this applies to you too. Honeybees pollinate over 30% of the food we eat. This treatment method is by far one of the most effective and safest ones out there for the bees as well as the consumers of honey.
We need to have oxalic acid approved in the United States as an option for beekeepers.
If you can copy and paste, you can help!
The 4 step comment process is fairly simple and your comments will appear in the ‘docket’ within 24 hours. The Pollinator Stewardship Council has created a draft of a letter (see below).:
The comment period for oxalic acid ends on March 6, 2015.
1. Copy the text of the letter below:
Susan Lewis, Registration Division (RD) (7505P)
Office of Pesticide Programs
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.
Washington, DC 20460-0001
Re: Docket ID number: EPA-HQ-OPP-2015-0043; Oxalic Acid Dihydrate.
Dear Ms. Lewis,
Registering oxalic acid to aid beekeepers in controlling their Varroa mite populations is an important tool in managing the health of honey bees. Beekeeping is a diverse industry of commercial, sideline, and backyard beekeepers. Our honey bees encounter different stresses; pests, pathogens, pesticides, and poor forage in varying levels of severity. The registered use of oxalic acid will be another tool to help beekeepers. As a beekeeper, I may not use this pending registered product, but other beekeepers will need to use it. Honey bees experience a broad area of the environment, and work tirelessly to pollinate our crops and wild lands. Having another tool to aid in controlling Varroa mite would help reduce the pest and pathogen stress upon our honey bees.
I support the approval of oxalic acid for in-hive use to control Varroa mites.
Formally,
2. Click the link to the Docket at Regulations.gov
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2015-0043-0001
3. Click on the blue COMMENT NOW button on the right side of your screen
4. PASTE your letter into the Comment box (optionally add your own comments), include your name at the bottom, and follow prompts to submit.
Additional information about oxalic acid used as a miticide for bees can be found at these links:
- Oxalic Acid: A prospective tool for reducing varroa mite populations in package bees by Nicholas P Aliano and Marion D Ellis University of Nebraska
- Oxalic Acid: Questions, answers and more questions Part 1 of 2 by Randy Oliver, Scientific Beekeeping
- Oxalic Acid: Questions, Answers and more Questions Part 2 of 2 by Randy Oliver, Scientific Beekeeping
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