Andy, I suggest you check the facts and broaden your horizon by not just argiung from a beekeeping perspective. Indeed, Loosestrife has become an important plant to some beekeepers in some areas but I would argue that beekeeping in north America (ps this issue is not limited to the US but includes Canada) did just fine a few decades ago before Loosestrife was introduced and became a serious weed. The weed has been so remarkably successful as an invader of wetlands, bogs, ditches, etc. because no natural enemies were there to limit it. For many areas this weed has been an ecological disaster where it caused many native plants to dwindle if not disappear. This also had serious effects on the fauna in many of these areas. The release of the three biological agents is in my view an excellent proposal and environemntally sound. It does not mean that Loosestrife will disappear (we don't talk here about eradication) but that some control is achieved and that Loosestrife will take its "appropriate" place within plant communities without being over-dominant. Biological control agents are environmentally attractive because without them people generally resort to the chronic use of pesticides which are much more damaging, especially when used in wetlands and bogs. Although I am not familiar with the approval procedures used by US agencies, but as I stated in a previous e-mail, the significance of this proposal may not be great because the exact same control agents were released in Canada some years ago. Paul van Westendorp [log in to unmask] Provincial Apiarist British Columbia