>Deputate versus degrade Let's go back to my post about chemicals in hives. Depuration of a chemical or chemicals from the hive refers to the process of making or becoming free of impurities. That's the critical question that we examine in our research. How quickly does a hive become contaminanted and how long does the cleansing take? Depuration occurs because of multiple factors: partitioning of the chemical into other hive components, replacement of old wax with new, dilution, 'excretion' - old bees ingest or adsorb some of the chemical, die, are removed from the hive or never make it back, etc. Degrade implies 'breaks down'. For example, pesticides applied to crops break down into other chemicals or into forms that hopefully are less toxic. Hence, from DDT you get DDE and DDD, etc. Degradation is one aspect of depuration. Degradation may or may not contribute to cleansing of the hive of impurities - all depends on what the final or resultant chemicals might be. Jerry :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::