>Randy, this is the same smoke and mirrors that happens with the California

> report.  Pesticide sales do not show the amount of seed treatment because
> it is not included in the reporting.
>

Stan, I feel that your "smoke and mirrors" comment is inappropriate,
implying that anyone is trying to mislead the discussion.  Neonic seed
treatments are generally only of use for about the first month of crop
establishment.  Growers would then be expected to apply the other
pesticides.

My point invariably seems to be that I do not understand why the sole focus
upon only one single class of insecticides.  PEI may be a special case
(although unless you can come up with more recent figures that seems
dubious), but in the rest of the world, all sorts of pesticides are applied
to agricultural lands at alarming rates.  To that add the beekeeper
contribution via applied miticides.

For a reality check, you may wish to review the estimated amounts of each
pesticide applied per square mile of agricultural land for each area of the
U.S. at http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/pnsp/usage/maps/compound_listing.php.

I find the usage maps most instructive, and they can be viewed to look for
changes over time.

Sure, the neonics have largely replace the environmentally-damaging
organochlorines and organophosphates, so are now the largest seller.  The
question is whether this has been an environmental plus or detriment.  I'm
no booster for pesticides, but am not seeing supportive evidence that the
neonics are worse than the alternatives.  The best alternative would be
more organic farming and IPM, but I don't suggest that you hold your breath
for near term widespread adoption.

The problem that I see is that when all research is focused solely upon the
neonics, then that leaves us with no comparative perspective as to how much
harm is caused by all the other pesticides.


-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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