>
> >The *question* (if certain neonicotinoids are killing bees) could have
> been
> easily answered  *if* a portion of the money congress threw at the problem
> ( 20 million?) could have been used to set up independent tests to answer
> the question.
>

Could have been answered without congressional help.  I proposed to the
members of the NHBAB two years ago a protocol by which we could have tested
for effects with cooperating beekeepers, all being blinded, using spiked
pollen and syrup.  None took me up.  Very disappointing to me if beekeepers
aren't willing to spend some hours to actually produce good data that might
answer their questions.

Meanwhile, while some are criticizing the small plots used in trials used by
Bayer, Bayer is in reality conducting very large scale trials every year.

Bayer is the world's largest grower of hybrid seed canola.  Such production
requires Bayer to rent thousands of colonies from Canadian beekeepers year
after year, and those colonies need to survive the Canadian winter.  During
pollination, the sole source of pollen and nectar for those bees is from
treated canola.  How is that for a large-scale field trial?

 I've spoken to quite a number of Canadian beeks who put bees on treated
canola, which I would consider to be the "acid test," since that is their
only food source.  They simply don't see the problem that others claim.

The whole "leaked memo" thing is disingenuous, since it has to do with
procedural issues with registration, rather than the doubting of scientific
validity.

Bob, I am not trying to say that neonics are harmless, but simply saying
that much hoopla is being raised about the size of a trial used in the
registration process, when all you need to do is to look in the real world
for large scale "tests" that are repeated on a yearly basis!

Randy Oliver

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