> I'm  still curious as to data on distances involved in the bee kill
> incidents.  How do they compare with other pesticide drift issues?
> What would be a safe distance to respect?

I've talked with a few friends who grow their own feed corn for their dairy
operations about planting dust, and to me, the primary issue appears to be
the timing of the planting versus the timing of a weed or wildflower bloom
that could be contaminated by the dust resulting from planting.  Once the
blooms downwind of the cornfield are contaminated, the only remaining
question is the foraging radius of the nearest hives.

Here's an extension pamphlet for Iowa, where they grow lots of corn, note
Figure 1:
www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/pm1885.pdf   April 24 through May 8th
seems to be the optimal time in Iowa, and there are lots of other things in
bloom then.  

So, the safe distance would be greater than the maximum foraging radius of a
beehive in spring.  The longest distance I've heard of was 14km for a marked
forager bee in France.    This also implies that "pollinator set-asides"
adjacent to corn should be entirely rethought for the duration of this
issue.  

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