EPA allows new pest control for Virginia beekeepers

Beekeepers in Virginia have a new line of protection against pests.

The Environmental Protection Agency has granted Virginia beekeepers an exemption from federal regulations and has allowed them to use the chemical coumaphos to control insects that kill bees, according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Coumaphos is sold by the Bayer Corp. as plastic strips called CheckMite. The EPA is allowing the use of CheckMite in Virginia beehives for the next year to control Varroa mites and small hive beetles.

Varroa mites are parasites that feed on the bodily fluids of adult bees and multiply on larvae. Hive beetles are dark-colored sap beetles that multiply in hives, feeding on honey and destroying the comb structure. The beetles spread from Africa to the American Southeast in the 1990s. The pests damage or destroy hives and kill bees.

Hive losses have varied between 25 and 50 percent in recent years, leading to significant economic losses for beekeepers.

The CheckMite strips control the mites and beetles within the hive. Beekeepers have until Feb. 1, 2007, to use the product under the exemption granted under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.

Other apicultural practices, including screened bottom boards and mite-resistant honeybees, can help control damage from pests, state officials said. While coumaphos is the only chemical treatment for hive beetles, others are available to control mites.

Bees pollinate $120 million worth of crops annually in Virginia. The spread of pests and loss of beehives threaten pollination of gardens, orchards and farms.

For more information about coumaphos and other ways to protect beehives, contact the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Office of Pesticide Services, at (804) 786-3798.