[log in to unmask] wrote:

>  Would this compare significantly to residues on the crop the pesticide was
> initially applied to?

I believe that the crop, being exposed to the environment and often washed before
packing and often washed before consumption, is  much less hazardous than the
contaminated pollen and honey we are talking about here. Subsequent to micro
encapsulated products' arrival in South Africa, we have shunned pollen cropping
altogether.

The main reason why this substance is so extremely harmful to bees is because of
it's micro encapsulation. The active ingredient methyl parathion is an extremely
toxic substance, both to humans and to bees. The nylon capsule only disintegrates
with exposure to light and air (or when being bitten by a bee one would imagine),
releasing the venom. Our bees collect the stuff in good faith - not succumbing to
the poison - store it in the cell, cover it with more of the same, more from
other sources and then some nectar.

Months down the line, these cells start being used, with fatal results - not just
for the youngsters mixing the bee bread, but also for those cleaning up the dead
and the dead and the dead ...

Getting m-p or any other poison into collected pollen and selling this as a
health food does not only open you up for liability suites ... it is also morally
unjustifiable.

The expense of testing will probably have to be paid by ourselves if we have bees
in hazardous areas.

Robert Post