From a soon to be published artice in the Maine State Beekeepers newsletter: Imidacloprid, the ingredient in Gaucho, is also in a variety of other insecticides, including Admire, Cinfidor, and Impower. In the August 2000 issue of HiveLights, an article by Medhat Nasr (who will speak to the MSBA at the March Annual Meeting) detailed results of tests on Imidacloprid. Impower was used as a seedling drench on tomato plants after they grew their first true leafs. The seedlings were in a greenhouse. Bumblebees were used in pollination and were introduced less than thirty days after the introduction of Impower. In two trials, all the greenhouse bumblebees died. Many were found on the floor, “spinning in circles and showing tremors”. This resulted in a company that produces bumblebees for greenhouse pollination to recommend that the bees not be introduced to the greenhouse within 30 to 45 days after using Imidacloprid. Nasr also indicated that even though Imidacloprid may not be in high enough concentrations in plant nectar to cause bee damage, the normal process of converting nectar to honey will increase the concentration of Imidacloprid by 2 to 3 times and could lead to the problems found in French bees. His final comments in the article are worth repeating verbatim. “The reports of French Beekeepers and the greenhouse study on bumble bees need to be taken serious. What Bayer has offered does not help to understand the dilemma of the French bees or the results of the greenhouse study on tomatoes and bumble bees. A study for sub-lethal effects for a longer period of time is needed to explain the negative impacts of Imidacloprid on bees. If Imidacloprid is not the culprit a look at bee health in the affected region in France should be warranted.” end of article. Scary stuff. And it is used on many different plants, not just sunflowers. We are watching the potato fields in Maine, where it is used. And the problem is, if any Varroa are present, colony deaths may be masked and not determined to be pesticide kills. Which is the purpose of the article, to alert beekeepers to Gaucho. This was only one part of a much longer article which also covered the French situation. Bill Truesdell Bath, ME