>
> >It is my opinion and only a opinion/hypothesis but I believe the maker of
> Imidacloprid saw the same pattern several of us did and adjusted the
> formula. Although only a hypothesis (and certainly I am unable without the
> makers help to substantiate )would explain why we are now seeing healthy
> bees in those areas.


As Mike Griggs pointed out, changing a formulation requires a lot of hoops
to jump through, and generally some degree of public transparency.  Anyway,
Bob, I did ask the "maker," or more specifically, Dr Dave Fischer whether
this occurred.  To the best of his knowledge, imidacloprid is still labelled
the same old ways.

Please note that imidacloprid went off patent, and others are now producing
it besides Bayer.  It's possible, Bob, that some maker is somehow selling a
more benign form of imidacloprid, but not probable.  There are more probable
scenarios as to why bees are healthier.

Again, Bob, if you feel stymied by Bayer "stonewalling," I am more than
happy by virtue of my being a member of the Working Group, to ask your
questions directly to a Bayer representative.  You can believe their answers
or not, but to date I have absolutely no reason to suspect that any answer
they have given me is in error.

Randy Oliver

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