> The term "industry-funded studies"  can be misleading.  
> Who the heck else is going to fund them?

One can go further, and note that pesticide companies are required to
provide the EPA with the data from studies on a specific range of concerns
prior to registration approval:

http://www2.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/data-requirements
http://tinyurl.com/oc3trcu

"We grant a 'registration'.... only after the company meets the scientific
and regulatory requirements."
"Potential registrants must generate scientific data necessary..."

These toxicology studies are an unrewarding burden to anyone who undertakes
them, and one need look no further than the 10/2013 Canadian program "16×9"
segment "Flight of the Bees" to see how one risks being slandered merely for
publishing such a study, as Dr. Cynthia Scott-Dupree (U. Guelph) was, in a
firestorm of criticism as the "story" was picked up by other media outlets.

At some point, the rabid criticism of any result that does not fix the
pre-conceived narrative will drive all possible qualified individuals away
from doing "toxicology" studies.  What happens then, when there are no 3rd
parties to do the work required to gain approval of the latest progressively
less-toxic pesticides?

Can anyone honestly claim that any agri-business company would attempt to
introduce something that was intentionally MORE toxic to non-target insects
(pollinators) than prior products? 

Sometimes, beekeepers are their own worst enemies, and even the discussion
here often wanders in unproductive directions.  We need to remind ourselves
that we are only likely to find problems in the unintended consequences of
the new products - the seed coatings that won't stay on the treated corn,
the surprisingly persistent glyphosate runoff that contaminates the water
available to pollinators,  the combination of the fungicide and herbicide
that renders pollen less useful to larvae, and so on.   It helps to recall
that Stavro Blofeld, Goldfinger, Dr.No, and Dr. Evil are all fictional
characters.

Our actual "enemies" are the Rube Goldberg processes that come from trying
to squeeze another 1.1% yield out of the same resources.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html