The additional details in the replies makes me feel more at ease.

In my case, I literally am a backyard beekeeper, but I aspire to a higher
level of beekeeping than that term usually implies.

My main concern is with pesticides.  Over the 15 years I been keeping bees,
the area I live in has become more developed.  The main floral source is
blackberries (never sprayed, either left alone or cut down), but the
development in the area has greatly reduced the amount of berries.  My main
crop is still blackberry, but as the years have passed I can start to taste
other sources (herbs like thyme) so I'm assuming the bees are searching
harder and going places I don't necessarily know about.

I'm not sure what the risks are for the bees gathering from homes in the
area that are using who knows what kind of chemicals in their yards.

I'm very, very careful about brood comb and honey comb mixing so I don't
have any worries about the miticides I use (beyond the question of their
basic safety).  But I'm less and less able to be sure about chemicals
outside of the hive.

Chris

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