In part, Peter Borst said beekeepers "want to cite somebody else for causing the colony decline that they have failed to prevent." Does anyone recall that when this all started the beekeeper responsible for 'ringing the bell' had just been told by the inspectors in Maine that his hives were in danger of collaspe because of varroa loads? And the immediate response on the part of certain large commercial beekeepers was that 'the government' should establish a program for reimbursement of dead hives? Some have said that all the constant blame placed on the neonicitinoids was to deflect any possible idea that 'the beekeepers' were responsible! *********************************************** 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 Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm