Right now there is a strong movement urging an outright ban on
imidacloprid type insecticides because they MAY harm honey bees. This
class of insecticide is now in widespread use and is heavily relied
upon by a variety of industries. But just for a moment, one might wish
to stand in their shoes. If beekeepers can get a ban on a particularly
important pesticide that is crucial for food production, why shouldn't
farmers lobby for a ban on bees in agricultural areas? How would such
an argument go?

"As a farmer, I certainly don't need bees around all the time. Most of
my crops are wind pollinated and if I need bee pollination I can rent
bees. That way I have them when the trees are in bloom and they are
outa here when it comes time to spray. As a matter of fact, we farmers
would be better off if they kept their hives outa the county
altogether except when we need them for pollinating. I mean, I heard
this CCD is all hype and some of the experts are saying it's the
beekeepers fault: they dump chemicals in the hives, and run ratty old
bees and queens and then look for somebody to bail them out when the
hives tank. Last thing I need is for some tree hugging beekeeper to
try and sue me for his bees dying while I am trying to FEED the USA
over here, the only way I know how to do it, and still make it pay.
And that stuff that Einstein said about bees disappearing being the
end of the world -- he never said that. "

reference:

> Many of us do not believe CCD exists and all symptoms can be explained by one of the four possible problems which were put forth by the CCD working
group. Many of us feel PPB ( pi-- poor beekeeping) was responsible for
a percent of losses and nosema ceranae another high percent. -- Bob
Harrison, beekeeper writing on Bee-L


Meanwhile, it appears that in New York State , the Farm Bureau
successfully got passed a law requiring beekeepers to register all
their locations. You think there might be a connection here? If
beekeepers are going to claim losses due to agricultural practices,
then isn't it logical that farmers will want to know where the hives
really are, if they actually were killed by the alleged pesticides, if
they contain off-label poisons introduced by the beekeepers, and what
condition they were actually in prior to their so-called Colony
Collapse. They will want to be quite certain that the losses are not
due to piss poor beekeeping. Because, would anyone want to bail out a
farmer that lost his herd by being in Hawaii when he was supposed to
be at home cutting hay?

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