Acaricide Residues in Beeswax and Honey

We studied the contamination level of the acaricides Folbex VA (bromopropylate, BP), Perizin (coumaphos, CM) Apistan (fluvalinate, FV) and Bayvarol (flumethrine, FM) in brood combs, sugar feed, honey and in new beeswax. All samples were analysed by gas chromatography with ECD detection. After one normal acaricide treatment, in autumn, the brood comb wax was contaminated by all these acaraicides with residues ranging from 0.03 to 48 mg/kg. The degree of contamination decreases in the following order: BP > FV ≈ CM >> FM. The amount of these residues increases with the increase in the number or the duration of the treatments. The residues in the sugar feed were much smaller than in the corresponding brood comb wax and varied from 0.004 to 0.04 mg/kg. The residues in honey were all beyond the tolerance levels and varied from 0.003 to 0.015 mg/kg. The degree of contamination decreases in the following order: BP ≈ CM > FV. In a model study, we examined the behaviour of acaricide-contaminated old comb wax when melted into new beeswax. The acaricide concentration in the new recycled was wax on average 1.7 times higher than in the old combs, regardless of the processing conditions (longer boiling times and higher temperatures). In 1995, the commercial samples in Switzerland contained 1 mg/kg CM, 2.5 mg/kg FV, 3.8 mg/kg BP and ≤ 0.25 mg/kg FM.