> In the US, beekeepers are reported to be losing, on average, 30-50% of their hives each year; it is obvious that these losses cannot be sustained for much longer. Despite this, the US EPA has consistently claimed that it was "not aware of any data that reasonably demonstrates that bee colonies are subject to elevated losses due to chronic exposure to this pesticide". -- Rosemary Mason 

Spoken like a true non-beekeeper and someone unfamiliar with the facts. Dr. Mason has arrived on the scene fairly recently having spent the bulk of her career in the field of Anesthesiology. Nothing wrong with that, but it hardly qualifies her to speak authoritatively on the demise of bees. 100 years ago winter losses of up to 50% were common. The notion that 50% losses will lead to the demise of the honeybee are simply incorrect. It may cut into the profitability of the craft, but people who raise bees for a living know that a single hive can yield ten new colonies without much trouble In fact, one of the commercial operators told me he was contemplating let 90% percent die off, split the remaining 10% ten ways and build back up to 100% as a seasonal management technique. Far fewer hives to haul to Florida! Further, the EPA is charged with calculating a risk/benefit assessment. One may question their findings, but they are not arrived at in some whimsical way. 

PLB

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