Dave Fischer wrote:
> Dear BEE-L readers,

And if I got the kind of response he got, I would make sure I told 
others in the industry and research community to stay off this list.

Ah, but that is exactly what most researchers did way back when this 
list was started. It was a list about bee biology and "informed" was 
in the title. But science was so assailed back then by the Luddites, 
that researchers gave up and let the rest of us argue in a sometimes 
informed , but usually not, way.

It would have been interesting to see informed back and forth 
discussion on Dave Fischer's post, but the response has been 
predictable, although a bit more vituperative than I have seen in a 
long time.

His post laid out the research done so far including many non-Bayer 
studies. He also responded to the supposed non-responsiveness of Bayer 
not "answering the mail". All that is needed are some names to prove 
him wrong.

So far, everything I have seen by non-Bayer scientist and researchers 
backs Bayer's position when you look at what actually happens in the 
field. The French researcher have no ax to grind since the pesticide 
was banned and they could have left it there. Instead, they showed the 
decision was mistaken. Truth is, if you look closely into that 
decision, it is interesting that a French competitor was very much in 
favor of the ban. And following the Bayer ban, a French company was 
implicated in a major French bee pesticide kill. My opinion is that 
politics and protecting the French chemical companies had more to do 
with the ban, than science.

However, what is most unsettling about the response to the post is the 
broad brush indictment of Bayer as an unscrupulous company which would 
lie and not care about bee kills. Dave Fischer's post actually proves 
the opposite, since an unscrupulous company would never have posted on 
this forum. Why bother?

The green revolution is so strong that any major company which knows 
its product is suspect and does not do good science on it to either 
confirm or prove it wrong, is in for a major hit. Especially bees. 
They are on everyones radar and no company would want to be the cause 
of the bees disappearing and suffer the condemnation and consequences.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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