I visited the intense corn and soybean monocultures of south-central
Minnesota last summer to see how bees and butterflies were doing
in some of the 100,000's of miles worth of mostly gravel farm road ditches
that border those crops.

Since the late 2000's most of those crops have been planted with
seed that is coated with neonics and seed that is also GMO
(herbicide tolerant, hence the fields are sprayed with herbicide
after the crop plants have emerged from the ground).

Here's a 2 minute video of the bumblebee and butterfly activity
I typically saw in those farm road ditches (the bee and cricket
activity is also audible):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeC8-rnxenI

Sure looks to me like the bumblebees and butterflies are still
healthy and plentiful.

Paul Cherubini
El Dorado, Calif.

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