Hi Allen and All

I watched and listened for more than half an hour yesterday then gave up having heard enough.  Didn't realise that was you asking about Bt corn, Dean!

I started drafting a long rant about what I'd seen then decided that I was being too intemperate and scrapped it - deciding instead to write directly to Dr Lu and his department head and Dean (as in Dean of Public Health at Harvard) to let them all know that the study and the good name of Harvard was getting a pasting on Bee-L.  Dr Lu responded politely and no doubt he and his bosses are still reading the exchanges here.  If you are, Happy Easter Alex.  He made a technical point that was completely unjustified and I just left it, not wanting an unpleasant exchange with him.

What did I see in the presentation?  A man who wants to do battle with Big Ag and who has a very superficial understanding of bees and beekeeping.  One point he brought out was that the decline in numbers of workers in the hives from the (exaggerated) peak in late summer to February implies that the bees had got lost somehow.  The presentation was advocacy not science.

One thing that struck me was that he was getting a generally friendly welcome from the beekeepers in the audience and that his anti-corporate message chimed well with most of the audience.  That is how it is out there, people can't and don't assess the science.  They readily identify with a scientist who appears to be 'on their side'.  The same thing is happening here in Scotland and caused me to resign from the Executive of our national beekeeping association.  A study is being led by a medically-orientated researcher with a poor understanding of bees and beekeeping but on a mission to prove that pesticides are behind bee troubles.  He, too, is generally well received by the average beekeeper because he appears to be on their side and against the main external problem that beekeepers can identify, agrochemicals and the companies selling them.  I'm waiting with interest to see what 'science' he and his collaborators come up with.

These last few days have been a watershed in my view.  The tide is turning against junk science that impacts on beekeeping and beekeepers.

best wishes

Gavin


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