The report from Hackenburg was from California and Almonds, so I have 
some difficulty matching that with any pumpkin pollination and pesticide 
contact. Maybe someone can clarify that, but I re-watched the end of the 
program and the report was as of right now for his bees in Almonds. So 
when were the bees lost?

If they were lost last year, I would have hoped that the researchers 
could have identified the problem, since Hackenburg's bees are the 
poster children for eastern US CCD. If they were lost during transit and 
at Almonds, then it certainly is not Imid..

As far as Imid being implicated, that was directly from Hackenburg. Most 
all the others who were interviewed were much more circumspect. Pettis 
said it could be a bunch of things and that Imid was not found in many 
CCD hives.

Also, I would be careful with any direct coupling of pumpkin pollination 
with Imid and colony die-off especially since Imid would not be a 
pesticide of choice for pumpkin fields. The program did not make that 
leap. That implication could be actionable by the grower, since he is 
blamed for doing something (applying Imid) when he probably has not. The 
grower actually came off well since he was willing to pay top dollar for 
pollination and recognized the importance of bees.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

****************************************************
* General Information About BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm   *
****************************************************