http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/04/11/Bees-doing-just-fine-fi nds-EU-but-continues-to-ban-the-pesticide-which-didn-t-harm-them My understanding is that it has now been shown beyond any doubt that neonicotinoids do harm bumblebees and solitary bees (what about all the other insects that no-one has yet investigated???). This report is a best a half-truth, e.g. it claims that it was the winter of 2012-13 that was the problem: NO! it was the summer and autumn of 2012 that caused the problem - so wet that there was practically no pollen in hives, colonies remained weak, queens did not mate properly, no young bees to overwinter. Honeybees may be able to do well in spite of these pesticides if other factors are favourable e.g. the weather, but the jury must still be out on what damage is really being done. Best wishes Peter 52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W *********************************************** 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