Randy, you say

"Do you notice that your over the counter medications are not tested on
heroin addicts, those suffering from AIDS, or those recently exposed to
pesticides or infested with crab lice?   The registrant can't realistically
be expected to test their product to specifically account for beekeepers
who have contaminated their combs with often illegal miticides.  I'm no
booster for pesticides, but we must be realistic!"

Reality for most of us is what we actually encounter in the environment...that's the "the larger biological context" you espouse.  That means all of the items on your list, above, and more.  It's why I asked about modeling earlier.  And the "registrant" in most cases, is not required to test the final product, only the "active ingredient" on their label.  This means they don't need to account for the synergistic effects resulting from their compound formulations, as Marianne Frazier has pointed out.  In order to decipher that, university labs (like hers) have to hire chemists in order to figure out what the "proprietary ingredients" in pesticide formulations are, then test them in conjunction with disclosed "active ingredients" to get at the reality...and then hope that this duplicates what is actually happening in the field.  (BTW, it turns out that in many cases the most significant "active" ingredient is in the "proprietary" list....and since companies self-report on this...they are able to choose to disclose which ingredient they claim is "active").

You yourself recently said:

"The Frazier/Mullin team has long pointed out that combinations of pesticide residues can be additive or synergistic."

Maybe neonics all by themselves don't do much to bees.  But when we add everything else the bees are exposed to, simultaneously, into the mix?  That is what matters.  We see differences in different agricultural settings.  It's not only about beekeeper applied miticides...the same beekeeper loses bees in one yard, and sees success in others.  That is very telling, in my opinion.

Christina

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