On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:31:26 -0600, Bob Harrison <[log in to unmask]> wrote:


> The CCD team found in the few samples they took up to 17 pesticides/sample
> with five per sample the average. 43 different pesticides were identified.
> At least 14 were systemic and seventeen different pesticides were found in
> pollen.

These kinds of findings in pollen have been going on for years, long before the massive annual fall 
bee losses. We have the intrumentation now to find even smaller minute traces of farm chems. No 
big story there, the stuff is our bodies in trace amounts too...so what. 

Bob you keep quoting Kim's column in BC and conveniently omitting the line that says they "found 
high levels of pesticides in beeswax with pyrethroids dominant. But the loads were amazing. 
Fluvalinate (with a half life of 5 yrs) was found from 4640-53800 ppb, the two breakdown 
products from coumophos from 8-18,600 ppb. There were more but these were the biggies" 

WOW take 5 seconds to digest those numbers........................................WOW is all I can say. 

I don't know about you Bob but I think the most people would read that to be that the vast 
majority of the contamination found in the combs was caused by BEEKEEPERS! 

Really the stories and annual enforcement actions in the dakotas and Mn are painting a clear 
picture up in the heartland of beekeeping that blue shop rags and bulk use of fluvalinate, amitraz 
and coumophos is the norm. 

You claim secrecy about the Bayer dirty dozen and imply that no one wants to talk about the Bayer 
connection but  the real dirty secret that no one wants on the front page of the NYT is how beeks 
have for almost 2 decades now been dumping massive amounts of chems into their own hives! 
Remember 4640-53800 ppb!!!!!

The cause of  this contamination is somewhat understandable too as migratory beekeepers are 
squeezed with high operational costs, low honey prices and mite treatments that are not cheap or 
readily adapted to large operations. 

Synergy is talked about frequently in news releases concerning CCD. Synergy perhaps between the 
MASSIVE levels of beekeeper applied chems and the TRACE amounts of systemic or conventional 
pesticides? 

While its has always been murky as a swamp about the role of ag pesticides in massive region 
wide bees losses there's no argument that the MAJORITY of contamination in ppb found over and 
over again in combs is caused by beekeepers. 

Bob I feel that you're representing the old boy line of railing against the pesticide makers and 
applicators while burying your head in the sand about the self contamination issue or why would 
you selectively lift quotations? 

Like I said before on the next page 14 of that BC issue the survey showed 57% responsdents use 
these chemicals. Its not hard to figure out that while Ag pesticide kills do happen that its not a 
wide spread across the nation problem like 57% of the beeks using chems that contaminate their 
hives. No doubt that number is probably biased on the low side  too because the blue shop rag 
folks are rather secretive about their "secret" blend of jug chems.

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