> But not in the honey. No reason to panic.

I don't think beekeepers will panic but certainly there seems to be cause
for concern when selenium is found at possibly toxic levels in the nectar
and pollen of plants in the valley.

Most of the U.S. honey consumers are happy to buy and eat honey from other
countries. Reports i have read have said up to 70% sold in the U.S. comes
from outside the U.S.. Much with perhaps a chemical of higher health danger
than selenium.

Maybe those countries will provide needed crop pollination after U.S.
beekeepers are gone.

The last figures i looked at showed revenues from pollination to be a third
larger than revenues from the U.S. honey production.

In short U.S. commercial beekeepers depend on pollination to stay in
business. Pollination takes strong healthy bees. We know how to maintain
strong healthy pollination colonies but we have

*no defense*

 from hive loss
when the girls bring back to the hive poison in pollen & nectar.

Which is why we express *concern* ( in the U.S. when in other countries 
beekeepers protest in the streets!) when the pesticide industry decides to 
kill
pests by placing poison in pollen & nectar

*and*

when we hear selenium (proven
toxic to bees at certain levels) is being found in the nectar and pollen of
an area in which most of the hives used to pollinate the U.S. crops are
sitting for a time period each year.

On the home front:

In Missouri a battle is starting against crop dusting for a mite in
soybeans. Our issue is not with the concept but with the

 *Illegal*

dusting during the
peak times when bees are in the fields. lawsuits will soon be filled once
total loss can be figured.

Maybe some on the list have seen the yellow colored planes in fields. Honey
supers are on in some areas so hard to figure loss yet but dropping an
insecticide on soybeans during the daylight times of 10am to 4 pm while
bees are in the fields is against all labels of products which are toxic to
bees.

The crop dusters are ignoring the label and pleading ignorance of hives in
the area. Last time I checked with my lawyer ignorance of the law was not a
defendable excuse *when* it comes to spraying at times when bees are in the
fields as bees will travel a couple miles this time of year for soybeans as
little else in bloom. Especially with a product which says on the label to 
only apply when bees *and other pollinators* are not on the bloom!

I said years ago to survive in commercial beekeeping in the future you would 
need to be migratory and keep your bees on open range when not producing 
honey or doing pollination and only venture into areas of row crops for a 
short period and then return to the range country so the bees can recover 
from the contamination.


bob

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