> There are worries that, because of their routine widespread use,
> antibiotic resistance is becoming increasingly common and soon we
> will run out of any that work.  This dismal prospect will affect not
> only the bees but also US!  Best advice is not to use them unless you
> really have to.

While this makes sense, the problem comes with the phrase, "unless you
really have to".  What does that mean???

Also, in today's interconnected world, what we do locally has to be
balanced against what is happening elsewhere.

We can conserve locally, but have a problem imported from the other side
of the globe in 12 hours or less.  We can totally cease using
antibiotics, but these same chemicals are available on the street in
other countries and used widely by people totally uneducated in their
use.  People from these areas can travel internationally with few
restrictions bringing their diseases, insects in luggage and local
bacteria.  What they don't carry, can be shipped by container along with
products and foods.

So, as I see it, we have to use judgment in employing these products,
but also not kid ourselves.  What we do personally probably matters
little in the larger scheme of things.  Sorry if that is news to some
who wish to convince or coerce others into sacrificing comforts or
economics to some vague and flawed concept of conservation.

Additionally, the entire topic of resistance is little understood but
widely conjured up as a bogeyman.  The mechanisms vary from situation to
situation, and most of what I hear -- as far as I can tell --is simply
BS, used to scare people into accepting an otherwise barren argument.

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