Two groups of beekeepers but only one knows the truth I guess.

Evidently confused,

Ted,  your confusion is for naught.   Your missing a lot of details.   First off your tying to say they are good  or bad,  black and white.  Not the case.

Of course neonics are bad for bees,  but compared to the options is where the reality is.  That the part no one wants to see.   Lots of non farming pie in the sky I get my groceries from the store and have no clue people don't understand the big picture.   A world without pesticides would be great,  but it is also not possible with today's human population.


As for beekeepers,  I would like to address your thoughts and Franks earlier comments at the same time.  First,  as it stands now we have a lot of very good beekeepers here in the Midwest,  and all over with a lot of hives in areas full of neonics.  Including a few million acres of Canadian prairie.  None of these guys are standing up and whining.  There were some issues with planter dust,  and those beekeepers said so,  and were quickly addressed.  But  back to this case in particular.  We have a beekeeper in the Northeast,  not exactly the land of neonics.  Who goes into blueberries,  which we all know are hard on bees,  and fails.  Not once  but repeatedly.  And collects ELAP checks in the process.   

Now  Said beekeeper is NOT anywhere near the only one in the area,  My good friend sent 2 loads right next to Davies last summer,  When the hives started looking bad from lack of forage he was offered  ELAP paperwork.  When he declined.  The fed them up and hit them with tera, and the bees came out fine.

Then we have the grower for said beekeeper,  who has a public interview out and said  hes baffled,  they don't spray any neonics on the fields...


And yet hes the voice of credibility???  How does that come about??  Our own Mark B has bees up that way,  as well as many other I know,  and we don't know anything??  But suddenly this beekeeper is the genius seeing what no one else can?   Believe me  you need to meet them and that image will go away.  They are SINCERELY nice guys,  and 100% believe what they say.   But so did John Hinckley, and Jim Jones (yes a reflection on drinking the kool aid)

Why is it that Guys like me are po-poed when we live and breathe more pesticides than any other spot in the world,  and have good bees??  I sell splits every year and grow...  I have more bees now than the Hack,s  heck  I shake more packages than hack has hives. And Randy?? Taking hard from some because he simply pointed out there don't seem to be any correlated issues??  My gosh,  that guy has done more to help beekeepers lately than anyone else.

What ever happened to looking to successful people and taking cues there?  Why are we jumping on the lost causes of the losers, and not the winners.

There is a ton of Facts and details out there on this case alone.  Mites out of control, un approved treatments in the hives.  Tough crop to pollinate,  and a lot of KNOWN good beekeepers saying  there is a bit more than meets the eye.

In this case I am buoyed by the responses on the other board,  its quite apparent there that they are looking at this case with a suspicious eye. you should take a quick look at Michael Palmers post.

Its pretty simple really,  if neonics were the evil told by most,  it would be a simple matter to look at the failures.  The upper Midwest,  and Canadian prairies would be wastelands for bees.  Not the case.  Follow the facts.

Again,  that’s not to say we should pay close attention and do what we can to minimize risk, Reducing any pesticides is always good.  But 3.00 corn and low food prices keep most growers 100% honest.  And the amounts of pesticides at a minimum.
Look close at the options.  Back to pyrethroids and organophosphates.  Look at the level of pesticides in our hives now.  Its these two and stuff we added.   And the other option no one here wants to say.  In the last 40 years we have taken 1 million acres a year OUT of production.  Ban pesticides and watch 10 million acres go back into production in one year. 

Lets quit  looking at chicken little,  and start looking at the successful beekeepers and honey producers.  Every one of them is also wary of pesticides,  but not dying from them at all.  Planning and moving ahead.


Charles

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html