In regards to the celery claim.  There is, to my knowledge, no GMO/GE celery, much less a GMO toxic celery.

This has always been my issue with the use "genetically modified" because we have a whole host of human guided NATURAL modifications to plant genes from Tulips to Tomatoes.

There was indeed a case of toxic celery, but it was  a result of normal hybridization and selection.  Celery produces a naturally occurring photoactive toxicant.  The hybrid created created massive amounts of these toxins and was actually causing skin irritation along the workers in the field.

There was no "engineering" involved in this like you would find in a triple stacked variety of GE corn.

The list of GM/GMO/GE crops is actually VERY short, even if they are the most common and widely planted crops they represent very little in the way of raw food crops.

Back to more bee related issues on the same topic...

What I find worrisome is the lead away from GMO in the conventional farms because it leads to increased use of herbicides like atrazine and 2,4D which have a MUCH larger impact on the down stream ecosystem.  Conventional no-till cane problematic for pollinators as well as the cover crops are most often spray killed.  We till pour corn crops because we when we are ready to work the fields they are covered in wild mustard in the middle of a bloom.

We make the GMO a big issue but I think if it were by itself and not part of a system of agriculture that is lack-luster at best we probably would not even be considering it.  The problem is, few people actually have a proper understanding of what the problems with current modern agriculture are.  The biggest that I can see is no rotation with six years of corn being planted back to back, not GMO and not-chemicals but mono-crop of a single crop back to back on the same ground year after year after year. You get away from that and you get away from a whole host of other issues.

Richard Stewart
Carriage House Farm
North Bend, Ohio

An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855

(513) 967-1106
http://www.carriagehousefarmllc.com
[log in to unmask]

You can follow us on Facebook or on Twitter @CarriageHsFm

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html