As of March 22nd, 2023, New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation, who regulates pesticide use in New York, have RESCINDED their 2(ee) recommendation. This means that effective immediately, use of extended-release oxalic acid pads as described in this article are NO LONGER LEGAL in the state of New York. We are in contact with the state authorities that have made this determination, as well as the federal regulators at the EPA that prompted this change. We are disappointed by, but understand, this development, and we are doing whatever we can to expand legal access to miticides for beekeepers.
The article below will remain on our website as a historical report on how these changes were attempted, but the new
letter from NY DEC and the appended US EPA letter below it show that regulators were not satisfied with this attempt to bring extended-release oxalic acid treatments to beekeepers through the 2(ee) process.
As of November 28th, 2022, New York State beekeepers can legally use homemade extended-release oxalic acid pads to help manage varroa mites in their hives. What does that mean, and how did we get here?
What it means
Beekeepers in New York are now able to legally take Api-Bioxal oxalic acid (OA) crystals, mix 50 grams of OA with 50 grams of heated glycerine, soak the mixture into two cellulose pads like a disposable kitchen dishrag, and then place the soaked pads into hives for the purpose of controlling varroa mite levels.
Nothing (including this article) should cause anyone to stray from the specific instructions that their particular state has published. If your state hasn't released recommendations for using extended-release oxalic acid pads, then you shouldn't use them! (But feel free to forward this article to your state bee inspector or pesticide regulators so they can learn more.) The only legal way to treat hives with oxalic acid in the U.S. is to use Api-Bioxal, the officially labeled miticide product. Other sources of OA aren't subjected to the same rigorous testing and quality control checks, and are not safe for use on honey bees - especially if those bees are producing honey for human consumption. Api-Bioxal meets the strict chemical criteria set by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the equivalent agencies in the E.U. Click here to shop for Api-Bioxal for use in your hives.
How we got here
We'll start this story with a product called Aluén CAP, which is produced for varroa mite control by a company in Argentina. The product consists of oxalic acid crystals dissolved into glycerine (with some other chemicals), and then that mixture is soaked into cardboard strips that are hung between the frames of the brood nest to kill mites. It was an exciting new product when it launched, but the company didn't go through the steps to get it registered for sale in the U.S., so only beekeepers in Latin America and the Caribbean have been able to use it.
However, a number of U.S. beekeepers got excited by this idea of a slow-release or extended-release oxalic acid treatment, and at least one beekeeper was willing to put in the work required to learn more. For years, Randy Oliver, a California beekeeper and writer of the scientificbeekeeping.com website, has been testing extended-release oxalic acid formulations under a state permit that allows him to test experimental miticides. He started by trying to soak glycerine and oxalic acid into blue shop towels, and his years of testing have led to much refinement and knowledge since then. (If you want to read more, we recommend a trip to Randy Oliver's site to see his years of testing, trials, and combing through the science on extended-release OA.)
Based on the success of Aluén CAP in Latin America, Randy's findings in California, and the slow trickle of new university research, beekeepers have started clamoring for a way to legally use this technique. In 2021, the FDA announced an exemption to the tolerance limit for oxalic acid in honey (essentially saying that traces of OA that get into honey during mite treatments aren't harmful enough to worry about). This opened the door for the EPA to allow OA use throughout the beekeeping season, even with honey supers on. Since these extended-release OA pads are left in the hive for more than a month at a time, this change was required before extended-release OA could be viable in the United States.
In Vermont, the state bee inspector and the state pesticide regulation authorities read the research, worked with the state's beekeepers, and released an official "2(ee) recommendation" on how beekeepers can legally prepare extended-release oxalic acid pads.
What is this "2(ee)" thing all about?
The EPA regulates all pesticide products in the United States. This includes miticides used to kill varroa. Miticide manufacturers jump through many hoops to get their products approved for sale in the U.S., and then there are even more hoops that they must jump through to change the official label on the miticide to allow different uses. However, Section 2(ee) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and General Pesticide Rule WAC 16-228-1225 allow pesticide users (like us beekeepers) to apply pesticides in an "off label" way under some specific circumstances, if approved and formally recommended by the state government. The instructions approved and posted by Vermont were released as FIFRA 2(ee)-compliant recommendations.
Betterbee owner emeritus Jack Rath has been able to legally test these pads in Vermont over the past season.This finally brings us to New York:
In New York, the process went something like this: Beekeepers in New York asked our State Apiculturist, Joan Mahoney, whether New York could do the same thing as Vermont. She referred the beekeepers to New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, who actually make these sorts of decisions. The beekeepers requested a 2(ee) recommendation, and then the state's bee inspection team worked with the NY DEC as they decided whether to approve their own 2(ee) recommendation. As part of this process, Betterbee even shared data from former owner Jack Rath (a beekeeper in Vermont) who has used this method himself in the past year. Ultimately, NY DEC approved and released a 2(ee) recommendation in New York as well. It is, noticeably, very similar to the recommendation from Vermont.
And it's spreading
Delaware also recently released their own 2(ee) recommendations, which you can find here.
Well, what if I don't live in Delaware, New York, or Vermont?
Just in the time it took us to write this article, we've learned about beekeepers and regulators working on this in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, and we've heard rumors from other states too. In fact, things are moving so quickly that it's possible other states have already released their 2(ee) recommendations or may do so within days or weeks. If you want to learn more about pesticide regulation in your state, your state bee inspector or university extension office may know more about whether your state is considering extended-released oxalic acid pads under a 2(ee) recommendation.
Rules and regulations are always changing
Exciting as these developments are, as we wrote this article we have learned that regulators at the USDA and EPA recently contacted their counterparts in Vermont to discuss Vermont's interpretation of the FIFRA 2(ee) rules. This may just lead to a friendly conversation about regulatory rules, or it could lead to a federal "Cease and Desist" order forcing Vermont (and New York, and Delaware…) to take down their recommendations.
Whatever happens next, it's always best for beekeepers to follow federal and state pesticide regulations, and to work with regulators when we think the rules need to be changed. Weak regulations or toothless regulators might sound nice while you're being regulated, but these are the same people who regulate pesticide spraying on the farm next door to your apiary. As beekeepers we should always make sure our pesticide use follows the law, so we aren't hypocrites when we demand the same from the farmers or landscapers down the road.
No guarantee that extended-released OA will solve your mite problems
Since it hasn't been legal to use extended-release OA pads in the U.S. until very recently, we don't have much personal experience with the technique. The scientists and beekeepers here at Betterbee are thrilled that we can finally test this mite management tool to see how it works in our own hives. But right now, we can't say for sure how well this will work in your hives.
We are also working to collect data from everyday beekeepers like you to see how it affects your hives. We're working with regulators in Vermont, New York, and further afield to design opportunities for you to perform some "Citizen Science" on your bees. Keep an eye on our website and newsletter for opportunities to join us in our research next year.
The available data so far seems to show that extended-release oxalic acid products aren't terribly good at knocking down mite levels if they've already gotten too high. For that, you may want to reach for a product like Formic Pro or Apivar, or a thymol-based products like ApiLife Var or Apiguard.
Instead, it seems that spring or summer treatment with these extended-release pads can do a good job of keeping mite levels from climbing or at least slowing the rate at which they climb throughout the season. This will reduce how often you need to reach for other miticides, but it's unlikely to completely replace them. Varroa management is all about using the different weapons in our arsenal, and this is just one new weapon for us to learn to use.
We at Betterbee welcome this exciting development in legal mite control and hope that it helps beekeepers keep their mite levels lower for longer.
