randy oliver wrote:

> The bees will gather fungicide-tainted pollen, and will survive
>  to return to the hive.

> bees do indeed work certain varieties of soybeans, and can
> actually make a honey crop from them.
> I cannot confirm that they gather pollen from soybean flowers,

Randy, the math realities are that soybeans cover approx. 30%
of the landscape of the upper Midwest.  Only a small percentage
will be in bloom at any given time in the summer and only
a small percentage of those fields in bloom will be varieties
that honeybees (or native pollinators) will visit.  Then on top of that
only a small percentage of the fields that produce flowers that honeybees
will visit will be sprayed with fungicide. Then on top of that,
heavy rain showers are common in the upper Midwest in the
summer months which washes away the fungicide. So the overall
chances that more than a trivally small percentage of honeybees (or
native pollinators) will gather fungicide tainted soybean nectar
or pollen in the summer months are very small.

Paul Cherubini
El Dorado, Calif.

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