At the rate that neonics are being used, soon all pests will have developed
resistance, and growers will be forced to find other methods to control them. 

First, we all know that the companies which produce these products are well aware of this, and have new products in the pipeline. They didn't get to be where they are by being asleep at the wheel. 

The situation roughly parallels the issues with antibiotics fed routinely to livestock to stimulate growth (not to treat specific disease). We now have germs in hospitals that are resistant to all antibiotics. There is a strong push to ban the use of antibiotics in animal feed.

But -- did feeding these products to animals cause resistant bacteria in people? Would the problem go away if we stopped doing it? If the answer is no, how can we compel those people to change their practices? Sure, this is a terrible problem, but wouldn't that simply be picking a scapegoat?

In the same way, many beekeepers are looking for somebody to blame and they have singled out big ag. I raise bees, and have a difficult time keeping them alive. But there is no big ag in my vicinity, so I have to look elsewhere for the source of the problems.

PLB

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