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Just got a shipment of Hopguard from Mann Lake. Enclosed was a notice that Washington State asked for, and received, a change in emergency 18 status for the number of treatments allowed annually for Hopguard. The TOTAL allowed annual treatment is now "six" treatments (or 12 strips) per 10 frame box per year. This means two three successive week (spring and fall) treatments are now "legal" in WA. Sorry if this is old news, haven't seen anything here about this
My understanding is that the change was done to allow for mid winter treatments also.
The 12 strip per year "limit" is vague enough to allow individual beekeepers to decide "when" for themselves. The fact that in the first week of November I just purchased more Hopguard might indicate MY intentions regarding winter treatment :) My spring/fall statement was meant more as "for example". I'm interested to see how other states respond/react...(Also, the beeks). For example, OA dribble is illegal as a mite treatment, but legal, if as Randy Oliver states, one is bleaching the wood of his/her top bars. OA vapor isn't legal as a bleaching technique. Hmm... will this change in Hopguard open the door even wider for more treatment experimenting by beeks? Only time, and the results posted on the forums may tell.
With a wink and a nod...bleaching your top bars with a wood bleach solution...I personally like to use a 3.2% sucrose based solution to keep my top bars nice and clean is perfectly legal. It's an unfortunate reality that "some or all" of it spills on the bees. I've found that 30-40 mils per 10 frames works bestQuote:
Originally Posted by rsjohnson2u
Hey rbees. When are you bleaching your top bars this year? I believe you told me earlier that it was sometime mid December? This will be my first "bleaching" and judging by your nucs your doing something right.Quote:
Originally Posted by rbees
Mike