The beekeeping industry has been treated with kids gloves, perhaps because 
of its perceived or real importance in ag production, or maybe because 
the quantities of active ingredients released in the environment are 
minimal compared to other users.

I think there is a third possibility: beekeeping is not considered a large enough constituency to merit serious attention. I think this is the reason we are being shunted into the veterinary domain and denied access to antibiotics. 

There is no real justification for denying beekeepers antibiotics. The development of antibiotic resistance is of course a serious problem, but there is no evidence that honey or bees are involved. Whereas the livestock industry has over-used these products for decades and we probably have consumed great quantities of antibiotics and resistant bacteria via this route.

Getting products approved and registered is a huge uphill battle as Randy has described. Skirting and evading the laws and crawling through legal loop-holes is a breeze, as Jim has described. All the same, my choice has been to take a conservative approach when putting chemicals into my hives. Our reputation as purveyors of natural products is at stake. 

PLB

             ***********************************************
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