Jim wrote:
 
> Exactly.  And while we are on the subject, I know that 
> beekeepers from PEI Canada came up with a complicated 
> accusation, telling a tale of hives dying from mere 
> proximity to soil-drenched fields where potatoes were 
> grown.

Jim, if the beekeepers who were asking for a moratorium
on imidacloprid were not convinced that it was a problem,
then what would be our motivation for "telling a tale"?
We were not asking for any financial compensation, and
had we been successful, the farmers would have gone back
to foliar sprays.  So we definitely believed that these were
preferable.  "Telling a tale" implies that you think we had
some ulterior motivation.
 
> On Long Island, no such negative effects were 
> noticed, even though more potatoes are grown on LI 
> than on PEI.  
 
 My search found a reference to 30,000 acres of potatoes
on Long Island being a high in 1970, with acreage 
declining since because of urban encroachment.  The
New York times does say that this year in the main
growing area of Suffolk county there is a record acreage
of 20,000 acres of potatoes.  By contrast we
have over 100,000 acres of potatoes on PEI,  and during
the time we were experiencing problems the acreage
was around 130,000.  
 
More useful than anecdotal accounts of good hives on
Long Island would be your comment on the paper 
about the multiyear control of pests on elms using
imidacloprid, since this bears directly on the question
of the safety of using it on maples.  The authors of
that paper had no agenda to discredit imidacloprid,
in fact as foresters they were delighted to find its
long persistence.
 
Regards
Stan

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