Hi Stan
I more than welcome a thread change. In fact, one of my chief objections to the intense focus on neonics is that it is a huge distraction and time sink. There are far more serious issues on the horizon. I think that beekeepers are overlooking a major problem, which is fungicide application to crops. Meanwhile, they are being quietly excluded from natural areas based upon the unsupported position that honey bees have a negative impact on native bees and bring about changes in the native flora. 

If the agriculture environment is increasingly unsafe for honey bees, then more than ever we need to find safe havens where the bees can thrive or at least recuperate. It is widely accepted that bees do better in a varied environment compared to monocultures like canola acreages or what have you. That is, provided there is adequate rainfall. Some seasons, natural areas are complete busts and the only place to be is either cropland or suburban environments where irrigation is going on. 

What is significant is that radical environmentalists are at work in both these fields. Using the dubious "precautionary principle" they create dire scenarios, turn up the volume and then use these elaborated fantasies to try to influence major policy decisions which impact the lives of vast numbers of other people and organisms. Speaking of the "precautionary principle," we should apply this principle to the principle itself: by rigorous implementation of it -- we could face disastrous unforeseen consequences!

These eco-fanatics would rid the natural areas of any non-native species which are guilty even when proven innocent. They would hamper the development, introduction, and use of a wide range of next generation pest control products which could not pass through the narrow gate imposed by the "precautionary principle." It would be pointless if all this attention on neonics brings about major changes in agriculture that ultimately benefit nobody. 

SEE
Johnson RM, Dahlgren L, Siegfried BD, Ellis MD (2013) Acaricide, Fungicide and Drug Interactions in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera). PLoS ONE 8(1): e54092.

Acaricides, antimicrobial drugs and fungicides are not highly toxic to bees alone,
but in combination there is potential for heightened toxicity due to interactive effects.

Chemical analysis of honey bees (Apis mellifera) and hive products
show that most managed bee colonies in North America and
Europe are repositories of a suite of chemical contaminants,
including an assortment of insecticides, acaricides, herbicides and
fungicides [1–3]. 

Conclusions/Significance: Interactions with acaricides in honey bees are similar to drug interactions in other animals in that
P450-mediated detoxication appears to play an important role. Evidence of non-transivity, year-to-year variation and
induction of detoxication enzymes indicates that pesticide interactions in bees may be as complex as drug interactions in
mammals.

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