>>>  >Monsanto has a bottom line, a bottom line that is being affected by many
beekeepers joining the cause against Monsanto. That is what they care about.

Monsanto if filling a hole in the agricultural market.  If it wasn't Monsanto, it would be another company.  And...., this is the first time a major agricultural company has taken an active interest and investment in the beekeeping community.  It's putting a lot of money into the beekeeping field.   Just stop and think how much it is costing them to pay Jerry Hayes to work for them.  And, I am pretty sure that Jerry is not going to sit around getting paid just to spout off.  He's too interested in bees to not be continuing his work in developing improvements for beekeepers.   Have you thought about how boring it would be to sit around doing nothing.  Meeting Jerry's research needs is costing Monsanto a pretty penny I bet.   And, in the long run it's we beekeepers who will be getting the benefit from all this, whether we pay Monsanto for a product or not.  I'd rather pay Monsanto for a product that will effectively control varroa and not harm
 the environment and our bees than continue on the way we are now, struggling to keep our bees healthy with the resources we have available now.

You better believe the farmers are going to do what they can to maximize their profit.  This means controlling the pests that reduce their crop yields.  I think we've come a long way since the start of commercial use of pesticides in the early 1900's towards becoming more environmentally aware and trying to minimize our impact on the environment while maximizing our production.  Take a good look at the farming history, especially here in the States.  Are we where we would like to be yet?  No.  But, I think we're working as hard as we can to get there.

Mike in LA


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