There is a problem with neonics and it was nicely stated by a Maine
beekeeper.

In essence, if we ban neonics then everyone will think CCD and every other
bee problem is cured.

It is as if there were no problems before neonics and they have brought on
all our problems. Most on this list know that is false, but there are many
beekeepers here in Maine that actually believe that.

There are a few on this list who do not recognize that there are a load of
pesticides around us that are demonstrated in the field- forget the lab, to
be much more harmful than the neonics. Here in Maine you only have to look
at the pesticide kill incidents and there are many but not one neonic
involving honeybees, and we have 70,000 colonies come in every year along
with local beekeepers colonies.If they were such a huge problem in Maine,
then where are the bee kill reports? The bee kills seem to all be in the
lab, not the field.

Peter's post on larva effects of known pesticides (the big four found in
hives) are caused by beekeepers and their environment, yet the effect on
larva by neonics is much less yet cited as a reason to ban them. Using that
rationale, we should ban all beekeeper introduced pesticides, including
formic and thymol which harm larva and kill queens and bees.

We look at runoff like it only happens with neonics. Or persistence as if
no other pesticide stays long in the environment.  To some, neonics seem to
be exclusive in their behavior.

Neonics have been so studied that, until now, we have not recognized that
many of the supposedly new bee behaviors caused by neonics are also caused
by other pesticides and now fungicides.

In essence, we discovered the tail of an elephant and some have stopped
there thinking they have discovered it all.

Peter said it better than me-

The world is constantly changing; new and unexpected challenges face us
> every day. However, very early on several of us pointed out that neonics
> are far safer than older formulations, and that all the attention being
> paid them was a distraction from several other problems, which were
> potentially far more serious.
>

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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