Hello Everyone,

>I agree.  Virtually any human activity outside the beekeepers control
means spraying is a good possibility.   >This not only includes farm
fields, but roadways and drainage ditches....

Lots of other contaminant exist besides agricultural chemicals. Out west,
our own government set off hundreds of nuclear blasts and most people
would be shocked to see maps of the fallout patterns. This material can
be easily detected in the soil and groundwater. Heavy metals and
radioactive elements are also common downwind of power plants and copper
smelters. They can also be easily detected in the soil and water. These
types of compounds are easily taken up and incorporated into many kinds
of plant tissue.

These kinds of contaminants are not restricted to the local area in which
they are generated. They can be quickly spread around the world.
Radiation from the Ukraine and the recent dust cloud from China are a
couple of good examples. Many dirty businesses have relocated just
outside our borders to avoid our environmental laws. Yet, some of the
contamination they generate often comes back into the US by wind, water
and product.

Bees are electrostatically charged particulate samplers. They go just
about everywhere in their environment and sniff just about everything.
Hive products are a reflection of that environment and cannot be
completely pure.

The concept of a product being organic is consumer/legal and not a
chemical reality. As consumer awareness increases concerning product
contamination, the threshold for organic certification will have to be
raised. Organic proponents tend to focus on agricultural contamination
but tend to neglect biological contamination. I expect that will change
as some biological contaminants can be as bad or worse than agricultural
chemicals.

If I were to buy an organic product, I would want the product certified
as organic and not the production method or area. After all it's the
product that's consumed. That would require product testing and would be
very expensive.

Regards
Dennis

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