>>> We had no problems with the pesticides in use before
>>> neonicotinoids - well, not since the 1980s.
>
> That was the royal 'we'.  I was writing from personal experience and
>  from communications with other beekeepers in this area.
>
> You, of course, may have had problems - possibly due to a lack of
> regulation in the US?

I suppose Great Britain looks as big and diversified as the US when
looking out the window or going for a stroll to the beeyard, but check
this out:
http://www.sarmonster.net/UK.htm

The the US includes regions of widely varying climate, from  areas with
no real winter and year-round farming to at the Arctic Circle.

The US includes many different states with differing regulatory regimes,
many of which are the size of the entire UK -- and this map just shows
the contiguous states.

There are ranches and farms in the US that are larger than an English
county.  Single fields measuring a square mile and larger are not
unusual in the US.  I doubt there is even one such field in the UK.

IMO, comparisons are impossible.

As for regulation, that is tough subject.  We have been kicking around
the question of evidence, regulation, enforcement and risk assessment
here and it seems clear that there are no clear answers, even in an
open-minded and interested group such as we have here.

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