Randy, you are right about the complexity of the situation for bees in general and I appreciate what you wrote detailing the issues regarding queens.


Jim also made a good point showing that pesticide residues are high in potato fields.  In previous posts, we've heard the same thing about curcubits.


It seems that many on this list have taken "sides", and that is natural because we are humans and that behavior is built-in.  However we just don't have enough information for "sides" yet.  Yes, things are good for some.  And things are bad for others.  And Dennis points out some charlatans that have gotten traction on this issue just as there are charlatans that get traction on bee gadgets.  Let's not allow such to get in the way of answers.


I would like to get on a soapbox here and repeat:  A monitoring program set up, that looks at pollinator health and soil chemistry, for representative regions around the entire country, (also internationally for those on this list not in the USA) would be hugely helpful.


Such information would go a long way towards helping settle our questions and help us solve our problems.   It would help silence nonsense.  It would help to make decisions about the best way to go forward regarding IPM, where to place bees, where to adjust ag treatments, and so on.  As Roy said, could we please stop throwing stones and start working on ways to solve beekeeping problems?

Christina

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