Commercial beekeeper Clint Walker, who is based in the Central Texas town of Rogers, has been suspicious of pesticide use since the number of his hives dropped from 2,000 in summer 2005 to 600 in January 2006. The portion of his hives that pollinated cotton fields that had been sprayed in West Texas collapsed, while his hives that stayed in Central Texas and pollinated wildflowers experienced no problems.

But he will wait for definitive proof before assigning blame. “I’m convinced in the next 24 months there will be evidence-based data that will irrefutably show why we are having colony collapse,” said Walker, vice chairman of the National Honey Board and a former co-chairman of the National Honeybee Advisory Board.

* * *

Meanwhile, many of us are anxiously awaiting the publication of:

Pesticides and HoneyBee Health: High Levels of Acaricides and Crop Protection Chemicals in US Beehives. 
Mullin, C. A., M. Frazier, J. L. Frazier, S. Ashcraft, R. Simonds, D., vanEngelsdorp, J. Pettis, 

* In revision for submission, PLOS-One  http://www.plosone.org/
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