* As one aim of GM crops is to reduce insecticide use, I would suggest
that beekeepers should be IN FAVOR of them. In any case, the idea that
we are ever going to return to some golden age "before" pesticides in
silly. We are already fully into the GM Era. At least those of us who
are not in denial. Let's make it work for us.

> B. thuringiensis was discovered 1901 in Japan by Ishiwata and 1911 in Germany by Ernst Berliner, who discovered a disease called Schlaffsucht in flour moth caterpillars. he Belgian company Plant Genetic Systems was the first company (in 1985) to develop genetically engineered (tobacco) plants with insect tolerance by expressing cry genes from B. thuringiensis.

> Environmental impacts appear to be positive during the first ten years of Bt crop use (1996-2005). One study concluded that insecticide use on cotton and corn during this period fell by 35.6 million kg of insecticide active ingredient which is roughly equal to the amount of pesticide applied to arable crops in the EU in one year. Using the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) to measure of the impact of pesticide use on the environment, the adoption of Bt technology over this ten year period resulted in 24.3% and 4.6% reduction respectively in the environmental impact associated with insecticide use on the cotton and corn area using the technology.

> Bt crops appear to be safe for the farmers and for consumers. Additionally, the proteins produced by Bt have also been used in sprays in farming techniques for many years with seemingly no ill effects on environment or human health. Thus, Bt toxins are considered environmentally friendly by many farmers and may be a potential alternative to broad spectrum insecticides. The toxicity of each Bt type is limited to one or two insect orders, and is nontoxic to vertebrates and many beneficial arthropods [like bees]. -- http://en.wikipedia.org/

* Furthermore, recombination is far more common in nature than in
agriculture and rather than being directed by scientists for
beneficial purposes, it is guided by the kill or be killed imperative
of the biological world.

Natural recombination and reassortment are key evolutionary
mechanisms in most RNA viruses. In ubiquitous
respiratory viruses, such as influenza viruses
or enteroviruses frequent coinfection
facilitates recombination so commonly that
genome fragments have independent evolutionary histories
even on a timescale of years. Both the possibility of
recombination and the considerable chance of co-infection
in adenoviruses are well known, but the true extent of
natural recombination among adenoviruses has remained
obscure.

"Evidence of frequent recombination among human adenoviruses"
Journal of General Virology (2008), 89, 380–388

****************************************************
* General Information About BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm   *
****************************************************