Hello Peter & All,
Beekeepers losing bees to pesticides has been around as long as I can
remember.  Beekeepers have tried many ways to hold chemical companies
responsible thru the years with very little results.  In Florida beekeepers
lost mega bucks in legal fees in a cut & dried chemical case within the last
couple years.   All thru history one fact seems to keep comming up *Justice
is the will of the stronger*.
At various times in U.S. beekeeping history the government has taken the
place of those responsible.  The government being all of us means all
U.S.taxpayers helped the beekeeper and not those careless spray applicators
or the chemical companies.
The government when they pay for damage they pay only what a package of bees
would cost because after all only the bees have died right. Wrong!  In
California those bees could be signed to many polination contracts which
would be lost income.  When bees are sprayed a few weeks before the major
honey flow a whole years income from honey is lost.
In our area there are many large apple growers.  Every couple years I get a
call from a beekeeper living close to the orchards talking about the trouble
he has keeping bees.  I listen and then advise him not to keep bees at his
house within close flying distance of the orchards.  The beekeeper allways
tells the same story "The hives were building up and doing great and then
came the big crash and all the dead bees". Most commercial orchards spray
around 14 -15 pesticide sprays a season.  You are right they are not
spraying the blossoms BUT the mist is landing on the clover and other bee
forage the bees are working under the trees.  If you live close you see dead
bees and if you live say a mile away you see hives dwindling due to bees not
making the trip home due to pesticides.  Many of those orchards are within
flying distance of the others so the next orchard to you could spray YOUR
bees just because the bees were out of his orchard and he thought all bees
were gone from the area.
Pesticides will allways be a problem for the beekeeper.  It used to be
beekeepers heavy into polination had the most problem with pesticides but if
what happened to the beekeepers in France should happen in the U.S. even
honey producers will have problems.  There is one difference in that the GMO
problem can be traced back to one source and is not related to not following
label instructions or improper application violations.   The fight for
reimbursement may not be worth the effort with the chemical companies *deep
pockets* as those Florida beekeepers found out the hard way in their court
battle.
Most growers & beekeepers enjoy a wonderful relationship. Those growers
that don't consider the needs of the beekeeper don't get polinated and go
out of business.
Bob