Bob:

<I agree with Hackenberg that most beekeepers which keep bees for a living
<are not buying what certain researchers are selling BECAUSE their 
hypothesis
<(like the Science article) simply does not fit with what we are observing.
Beekeepers are important observers. Last month I was listening a French 
researcher telling how beekeepers noticed bee problems in spring during 
sowing time. Beekeepers blamed that the seed used was poisoning their hives. 
Luckily the authorities took this seriously. They made a field test and 
found out that when corn was sowed by pneumatic sowing machines the air 
pressure released enough pesticides from the seeds to harm bees. Pesticide 
was found on top of plants near the fields. Now the producer is looking for 
a chemical to attach the pesticide more strongly to the seed, but its use is 
stopped until then.

So we all should keep our eyes and minds open. And also remember that the 
answer for our problems is not always the big chem business.

Ari Seppälä

Finland

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