Peter forwarded:

>..... Imidacloprid is an outstanding tool for
> management of hemlock woolly adelgid as its application is simple, safe 
> and
> gives several years of control with just a single application.
> Research has shown
> that a single application of imidacloprid applied via soil injection can 
> provide
> protection for up to 6-7 years.            ......
> Comment submitted by Joe Collins, University of Kentucky, Dept. of 
> Entomology

This was submitted in support of imidacloprid.  To my mind it is the
damning evidence against it (it's soil longevity).  I had never seen a 
report of
such longevity but it shows why it is so dangerous.  I posted a report 
(summary)
showing three year activity in one forestry application.

I feel good about the beekeepers presentation mentioning "Premise", because
I think I was the first one to point out that Bayer's advertising on this 
product
is contrary to what they say regarding bees.  But the fact that it makes 
fungal
infections 10,000 times more toxic is something new they have added to the
advertising.  How can they be so two-faced?  And do they not realize how
much that weakens their case that imidacloprid is safe for bees?  And do
they not see that the market for Premise for termites is pretty small 
compared
with the agricultural uses of imidacloprid that is at stake?

By the way, can anyone (Jerry Bromenshenk perhaps?) update me on
what the representatives of Bayer Crop Science said at the January
meeting with beekeepers regarding analysis of the samples from my hives
that (in my opinion) they are trying to avoid analyzing?

And Paul Cherubini wrote:

>Yes, but what, if any, harmful biological activity does
>a 1,450 ppb insecticide residue in the nectaries have
>after 6+ months exposure to an outdoor environment?

I really don't understand what you are saying Paul.  That level of
residue is toxic to bees.  I don't think anyone from Bayer would
dispute that.  None of their own research would seem to indicate
otherwise.  There might be some dispute over whether the LD50 is
20 ppb or 200 ppb.  But this is almost a magnitude greater.

Do you have to lose the hive immediately, as you might with
an organophospate poisoning.  Or might we have to look for
some more difficult to explain collapse syndrome.
Perhaps some synergistic relationship as with
the fungus and termites might be happening which would make
a commonly present thing like nosema more deadly.

It seems odd to me the way people keep bringing up the
"horrors" of going back to organophospate sprays.  Farmers
sprayed potatoes here regularly with them, and although
people near the fields were royally and vocally pissed off,
I had no problems with the bees.  It would of course be
different with a crop that the bees visited, but then isn't
the grower supposed to "not spray when bees are in the
crop"?  We might not have to go back there anyway, if
the chem companies could come up with shorter lived
neonicotinoids.   But instead they seem to be catering to
the grower:  "Season long control of your pests".(  or multi
year protection of your trees).

My opinion
Stan




Regards
Stan 

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