my additional comments...
your remarks are classical obfuscation. nice try but you still did not answer my question
Wow, the answer was plain as day, your completely wrong. There are many who raise queens in this environment. The main reason GA and CA are the big queen zones is simple, timing and weather. It has nothing to do with AG chemicals. In fact GA uses a lot also. Its quite AG intensive. I could make a list of all the Midwest queen breeders, but most of us could check that on our own.
But the main problem with your post is attempting to paint with a broad brush, something your completely mistaken about, and trying to sound like an expert. You drove thru and talked to a few people. Probably friends with like minds. I live here, as do my friends. Between my close friends and I we run close to 12000 hives here in Iowa WI, and IL, if I add just friends and OH and MI the number would quickly hit 30k, by friends they are guys I talk to at least once a month. While we talk extensively about bees, and we do discuss pesticides, its nowhere near the issue you wish to portray.
You also miss a few facts (bare with me if it’s a repeat) in 1970 we fed 220 million on about 590 million acres. Today we feed 370 million who live 20 years longer on 540 million. We do that by what can only be called minimalist use of chemicals. We use that term chemicals like it’s a weapon, a club to beat critters with, but the truth is everything in life is chemicals. A large portion of those chemicals are nothing but nitrogen fixers to make the soil better to produce good crops. Yes pesticides are a part of that also. In order to feed more and more living longer on less acres we need to make sure that production gets to the market. To do that we use pesticides, some are insecticides, one of which is Neonics which have reduced the number of other insecticides used dramatically, and is very targeted. The other main pesticides are herbicides and fungicides. The use of both dwarf insecticides. Herbicides such as Lorsban and Roundup are extremely targeted and have been proven over and over again to be safe, others such as atrizines can be better. Rest assured many smart minds are working on it. Fungicides, well frankly it’s a pain. Biggest crop losses come from fungs, and it matters not what crop you speak of, from apples to pumpkins to corn and beans. As far as pollinators are concerned, it’s a small deal.
Your goal with your comment was to paint the farmers of the Midwest (and any area really) as a bunch of hicks ruining the world. The truth is some of the greatest minds are working hard every single day to get you more and more clean safe food, with less erosion and better soil conservation than most people can ever comprehend. I see all the time people who claim they are ruining the earth and killing the soil, and hear comments about how farming is unsustainable. Fortunately, all of that is completely untrue and a complete lie.
I promise the tonnage of insects per square mile here in the Midwest dwarf any non AG area you have ever been. That’s everything from bees, to butterflies to earthworms and rolly polly's(wood louse). Heck even the predatory insects are huge numbers, and the pesticides would accumulate in them. Asian beetles, spiders, and praying mantis are here in huge numbers, found right at the edge of the fields. Despite feeding on all the neonics infested bugs.
And last point your comments on Canola. Quite a bit off the mark, I too am quitting Canola, but if your friends are quitting because of pesticides they have no clue as to whats going on. Midwest canola is a spring crop. Its difficult to get a good crop because of weather, and then it wants to crystallize in the comb due to cool temps( I still have 300 supers full sitting here hard as a rock) insecticides in canola are rare. First off the seed is treated and most pest are reduced, secondly the bugs that are a problem get sprayed prior to bloom and it’s a 3 day insecticide. Yea there are probably a few bad actors out there doing something different, but not many. OK and KS last year had over 400k acres of canola and only 3 beekeepers filed permits to move into the state, I can assure you there are an awful lot of acres available that are not sprayed.
Now back to bees and neonics. Here in the Midwest, being IL, OH, IN IA WI and MI we raise a lot of queens, and good queens. With no issues, the survive just fine. Unfortunately our season to raise queens is tiny, so trying to bank honey make splits treat mites and raise queens all at the same time gets a bit hairy. Add to that, cool nights making it difficult for small mating nucs, an abundance of skunks, fast growing grass and dragonflies and its tougher to get good success numbers. My friends that are breeders run 90% in GA and CA, here in the Midwest 70% return is pretty decent. Not from pesticides though, and certainly not neonics.
My apologies for the obtuse direction of the thread, My hope is that us, Bee-l readers would want to be the most informed and have accurate stories instead of parroting talking points about things we don't know about, and I hope that others would continue the same concept of making sure others here don't get off in the wrong directions on topics we are not completely up to speed on.
Charles
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