> Norm Carreck wrote...

I don't know anyone who
.
.
.Hi Peter

> Norm Carreck wrote...

I don't know anyone who calls him Norm, even if it is standard practice to drop the final 'an' on your side of the pond!

Oilseed rape provides the main exposure to imidacloprid for UK honeybees, and that exposure is usually in April and May.  There is a small area of spring-sown oilseed rape flowering in June and July particularly in the far north, but for many beekeepers imidacloprid exposure must decline rapidly through the summer as the spring income is replaced by non-crop summer and autumn forage.

So, when campaigners against pesticides here point to a likely link between imidacloprid and our elevated bee losses in recent winters, it is worth pointing out the big discrepancy in time of exposure (when bees seem as healthy as they used to be, before imidacloprid seed dressings) and the time of year when we see our bee problems.  I've done this on some fora and the response is usually either abuse from a few people with strongly held views, or silence.

This is one reason for me recently asking Maryam Henein to comment on the selective use of Maryann Frazier's work on pesticide data (ignoring beekeeper-applied pesticides) in her film which is at the centre of this campaign in the UK:

http://vanishingbees.co.uk/

It is hard to see the direct relevance of CCD (as discussed in the film) to winter losses in the UK, though I concede that there may be common factors.  Those in the UK wanting to blame pesticides don't see that distinction (see the web page above, for example) as they are trying to make a case against pesticides which relies on the (apparently false) assumption that CCD is due largely to pesticides.

Totally agree with Randy, and I think that many of his worries have already been taken into account by our regulators over here:

1.  The sheer volume applied. [I think that much less is used here]
2.  The collateral damage to earthworms and other nontarget organisms. [Agreed]
3.  In forage following seed potatoes. [Need to look into this!]
4.  In melons. [maybe when our climate has warmed some more]
5.  When applied by chemigation. [not permitted here]
6.  When injected into flowering trees. [not permitted here]
7.  In corn seedlings during drought periods. [might be an issue but we don't see losses in May]
8.  When improperly applied, which has been well documented to kill entire
colonies. [certainly has happened in continental Europe]

all the best

Gavin


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