At our County Association meeting last night the question of GM crops was
raised especially those that produce insecticide to control pollen beetle,
aphids etc.  While there is a lot of literature from Monsanto to say they are
very clever and very careful and they will feed the world, our members have
not been able to find anything to say that tests have been carried out on bees
and honey and the results of the tests.  The silence is worrying.
Although an individual flower will possibly produce only an infinitessible
amount of insecticide in it's nectar what happens when 40,000 bees are going
mad in a field of millions of flowers, concentrating the nectar into honey and
feeding it to themselves, their larvae and our customers?  It must not be
forgotten that bees also feed on sap either directly through extra floral
nectaries or wounds in plants or indirectly through the secretions from the
rear end of aphids.
Does anyone know the answer?
Chris Slade