<<Where in the US would ou find a pesticide free area that would also maintain 24 hives over a season, 

That is a common misconception,  there are many areas of bee flight that are people and pesticide free.  One just needs to look a bit. >>

Sorry Charles, but your misconception is likely your own misconception. You forget about global pollution.  In the 60s and 70s, I was doing landscape pollution studies for EPA.  There were NO places that we tested in the USA that were totally pesticide free, and other investigators found the same.  I used to say - if your lab can't find traces of at least one pesticide, find another lab - and that was a time when residue levels in wax tended to be in ppm's.

We always found readily measurable levels of the more persistent chlorinated pesticides, especially DDT and the breakdown products in both adult bees and wax.  In more recent years, the DDT family of  chemicals and other chlorinated pesticide residues seem to finally be disappearing in the USA.  Note however, that natural areas may be no better than agricultural areas - as DDT and similar chemicals have even been found in artic snow packs.

Over the last 10 years, I have seen an average of a minimum of 2-6 detectable pesticides in any given beehive drop to as low as 1 or 2 chemicals, and then at ppb levels, even in some agricultural areas, with the exception of miticides!   In western MT, near Glacier park, I have found at least one commercial (non-migratory) company whose only detectable beehive pesticides are traces of miticides, despite the fact that the miticides detected, like fluvalinate, haven't been used by them in many years.

Urbanized areas of the US tend to be as bad or worse than agricultural areas in terms of levels of and diversity of pesticides- I assume due to the ease of purchase and no need from training - when one buys in the local hardware or box store to use on the lawn and garden.

In any of my own studies, I test for residues, even in control hives, I don't assume that the bees, wax, pollen, etc. will be pesticide free.  I do aim to find areas of few pesticides at low levels - but no chemicals is a challenge.  Remember also, Roger Simmonds at Gastonia even found pesticides in new wax foundation.   In Europe, the Germans had, may still have, a program where they had to go to Turkey to find pesticide-free wax, and they insisted on seeing analysis of the wax to verify the pesticide - free status.




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