May be somewhat off topic, but a bit of history of a chemical that today is 
still being used, apparently.

As a very young child, I and my brother who was less than two years younger, 
used to run the fields in the summer with butterfly net and killing jar.  We 
were avid "collectors" in those early years, and the interest stayed for a 
lifetime. (May be relevant to being a beekeeper forty years later). 
Sometime in the 1930's, in rural Nova Scotia, there was an infestation of 
ants in my Mother's pantry, where she kept the baking supplies.  The ants 
were very thick under the sugar barrel, and she "managed" them by liberally 
sprinkling "Dichloricide" on the floor under  and around the barrel.  That 
took care of the ants.  When it was time to bake  bread, she did not realize 
the effect on the flour, until the heat of the baking intensified the odor. 
I will never forget that bread.  I could not choke it down,  but our Father 
said a little "off" taste would not hurt us, and the rest of the family ate 
it.  No bad effects??  Could that have anything to do with heart problems of 
one kind or another in both of our parents and all the children that were in 
the family at the time???  In that time, house moths were common, and the 
Dichloricide was the "modern" choice over "moth balls".  Paradichlorobenzene 
was the chemical name for Dichloricide.(we children delighted in such great 
long names, as a bit of a game to see who could find the longest one!!)

No doubt that foraging bees can bring anything they encounter in the field 
into the hive, and as such pollute that atmosphere with many things.

Eunice Wonnacott

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