> "In light of recent European bans of a pesticide 
> linked to Bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)..." 

Whoa, there.

No pesticides have been linked to CCD.
Not a one.


As more data comes in, pesticides look
less and less likely to play any role 
in this pathogen-driven problem.

What happened in Germany was a simple
pesticiude kill, nothing more.  What
happened in France is that problems
with hive losses did not ease when the
pesticides were "banned" under the
precautionary principle, despite a 
lack of any evidence.  Neither incident
has been mistaken for CCD by anyone.

> "...at least one key bee expert..."

How is Joe Cummins a "bee expert" at all?
Has anyone ever called him a "key bee
expert"?

Let's see what he says about himself
in his own words, here:
http://www.indsp.org/ProCummins.php

Nope, no mention of bees at all.
Just the usual collection of knee-jerk
luddite resistance to the technologies
that feed the planet.

> "...is calling for a ban of the same 
> pesticide in the United States."

Funny, he isn't calling for a ban in Canada?
Only in the US?  I wonder why? 

> "'In the United States, drastic action is needed,' 
> says Canadian geneticist Joe Cummins..."

OK, let's take drastic action, lets ask him if he
has ever even looked inside a beehive.

> "...explaining that U.S. farmers and beekeepers 
> shouldn't have to wait for more evidence..."

He'll have to excuse us for waiting for at least
some evidence, any evidence at all.

> "...or [wait] for an air-tight explanation 
> for the complex syndrome..."

It stuns me to see someone who calls himself a 
scientist telling people to leap into action 
before they even have a explanation that can 
survive some basic critical thinking.

This sort of commentary does not even earn Joe
the title "Pop Tart".  It only deserves to be 
called the work of a "Generic Toaster Pastry".

Why is it that the Looney Tunes version of everything
gains so much traction, not only with civilians,
who can be excused for being ignorant and gullible,
but also with a significant fraction of beekeepers?

How do people read this sort of drivel without
laughing their heads off?

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