So I am talking to this farmer and I tell him that I do not like neonic
seed treatment and can he stop using seed treatments and instead use IPM.

He says, "Fine, but you have to hold me harmless when I need to either
spray or use soil injection or drench. I will be using a lot more pesticide
and it will be more likely to be in both nectar and pollen and harm your
bees. You have to know that with seed treatments I can keep my over-all
pesticide use way down and get a much healthier soil and your bees seem
fine. With soil injections or spray, I kill both the pest and beneficials,
while with seed treatment, most of the beneficials live."

"But what about potential resistance to the neonics if you do not practice
IPM?"

"So far it seems not to have happened, but I am sure you will let me know
when it does. It may be that we are not flooding the system with large
quantities of pesticide, like I have to if I relied on IPM, becasue there
is no way to treat a seed after it is in the ground other than drench or
soil injection which use large quantities of pesticide. Seed treatment is
the only way to keep my pesticide use low. Plus, when we did use either
drench or soil injection, your bees got into trouble. Both practices are
bad for bees."

The he asked me, "You have been pollinating my fields for over ten years,
why the concern now over seed treatment? Is there a problem with your bees?
Why do you want me to do things that are harmful to both your bees and the
beneficial insects and earthworms in my fields? Why do you want me to
increase my pesticide use? I thought you beekeepers were stewards of nature
and want to protect your bees."

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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