Hello Bee List!  My name is Lori Quillen, and I am a SUNY graduate student
that is interested in the effectiveness of pesticide label directions, and the
people that do [or do not] enforce them.  Should they be revised, enforced on
a different level, or watch-dogged by a third party?  I would really
appreciate information/experiences that people in the beekeeping community
have had with bee loss to negligent applicators.
 
Do you live near large scale agriculture?  Did they spray for mosquitoes or
bud worms near your hives?  Did major loss occur when renting pollination
services?  I searched five years of the Bee-L archives (whew!) and found some
great information- but I'm sure there's more!
 
It seems that in the last few years fewer & fewer papers are being published
concerning bee loss to pesticides (it was a hot topic in the 70's).  I am not
convinced that it is no longer occurring.  Ever since the scourge of the
mites, almost nothing is written about bees & toxic chemical exposure.  I
really need anecdotal input from people that are most effected by this
negligence.  Also, any personal insight on native pollinator declines would be
nice.  Feel free to e-mail me direct.
 
I have a multidisciplinary major in both in biological conservation & public
policy.  The audience for my finished product will be policy makers-- and I
plan on publishing.  Get your voice out there!!!  I am totally willing to keep
input anonymous, but it always helps to have real people behind gripes.
Thanks for reading- and feel free to ship my e-mail address to anyone who
might have any pertinent information.
 
Lori Quillen
6 West Erie Street, APT 2
Albany  NY   12208
 
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Thanks!!