Coming to this conclusion is very important for me, since from here on, it 
becomes a factor in all my decisions regarding management of my bees and my 
business, so as to minimise my bees exposure to the agrichems which are in 
widespread use here too.

Well, now, I am in complete agreement with this. I think that keeping bees around certain crops has always been perilous. This is one of the primary reasons growers have had to rent bees over the years. Beekeepers have needed to avoid crops that are heavily sprayed while in bloom. The coordination of pollination and crop protection has always been a difficult challenge and losses are inevitable. 

Those of us who watched the Dan Rather show saw Jim Frazier placed in the center of a piece that clearly seeks to demonize both neonics and the EPA. However, Jim Frazier's work does NOT single out neonics, nor does it suggest that pesticide companies have run rough shod over the USA. Many of the products in use have been thoroughly tested by *conventional means* and have been found to be safe that way.

What the Fraziers and others point out is: the conventional testing only looks for immediate toxicity. Long term effects will only be seen in long term studies. Also, conventional testing treats each product separately and does not look at novel combinations of products, which is what is found in the real world and particularly in bee hives. Bees can collect and store a variety of toxic substances which can have unpredictable synergistic effects.

But what Bayer and others have correctly pointed out is that the simple banning of neonics will not cure the beekeepers' problems. Further, it will create unreasonable and unnecessary hardships for the growers who depend on these products. Every study done on bee mortality has shown that while pesticides are a factor, banning them is not going to make honey bees suddenly resurge. 

As one can see by reading here, the problem of varroa mites has not been solved. It is impossible to have good colonies where high levels of varroa mites are present. And even low levels can damage the colony health, especially with multiple viruses and pathogens present. Until these problems are resolved, it may be counterproductive to focus time and money elsewhere.

SEE:
http://tinyurl.com/3m3kl3j

             ***********************************************
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

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm