We read from time to time that bees can be used as mineral prospectors, mine
detectors etc., presumably from analysis of traces of chemical contaminants
brought into the hive in nectar or pollen.  If they bring the rare and exotic
into the hive, how much more so they must bring in commonplace pollutants.  I
am thinking of those derived from combustion of fossil fuels.
I keep my bees in various locations in West Dorset, which is about as rural
as you can get in England.  I know that lichens are very sensitive pollution
indicators; without getting the books out, roughly the very hairy lichens
won't grow within half a mile of a smoking chimney whereas the crusty ones
will grow within a couple of feet of the exhaust pipe of your car, with a
precisely graduated range in between.  In at least three of my apiaries no
agricultural chemical has been applied nearby for as long as anyone can
remember.  Looking at the lichens on the trees near my bees, the only
unpolluted site is tucked away in a hollow on an unsprayed/unfertilised
smallholding on top of a hill a mile from the village.  I have to walk about
300 yards to reach it.  I can (and do) get to the rest of my sites by car and
the air is polluted.
If organic equals unpolluted can anybody really produce organic honey in
commercial quantities?
Chris Slade