Bob, thanks for your comments,
Extracting the final part of your mail

"Most growers & beekeepers enjoy a wonderful relationship. Those growers

that don't consider the needs of the beekeeper don't get pollinated and
go
out of business."

Very true, but thinking about the situation that is omnipresent here in
the arable areas of France - Systemic insecticides are applied as seed
treatment to maize, wheat, barley etc. - not foraged by bees, at least
the later two crops. The residues of the original active ingredient and
its metabolites remain in the soil to be picked up by the next crop that
is possibly one attractive to bees - they are then found to be damaged
by toxins.
The grower has little interest in bees when growing cereals but his/ her
treatment continues into the next crop, a year on!
He/she will not go out of business. The beekeeper will - or as here,
are.

Laws have been put into place to limit persistence periods in soils -
but these were determined on actual deaths of bees not sub lethal
effects which derange the hives just as efficiently.

I still hold to the statement that things have moved on, new pesticides
are being produced that are far more toxic, resulting in smaller applied
doses.
Therefore the need for the Phytosanitary companies to investigate
properly the effects on bees at levels of ppb (parts per billion).
And to take into account sub-lethal poisoning.
Outright hive kills  or "simple" LD50/LD90 MEASUREMENTS are no longer
adequate tests for the new compounds.

Test are applied as problems arise, on the hoof! - much to our detriment
- and we still can't make out the case in an organised way to get the
Principle of Precaution applied as standard practice!
As an industry, We have a lot to get organised in the near future and to
my way of thinking it will have to be on an international level.

Peter