Michael Moriarty <[log in to unmask]> mentioned that breeding bees resistant to pesticides may be a problem as it wold result in ore pesticides in the honey. This may be true but it may also be wrong. For an organism to be resistant to most pesticides it actually would have to metabolise the things into safer compounds (eg CO2, NaCl and Phosphates or whatever). Then one would actually have a cleaner honey, as just as the bees now add enzymes which get rid of certain contaminants in honey, they would also be doing a bit of bioremediation on the honey. So it may in the long term with a bit of research give us a better honey product - in the longg term it may even be possible to get bees to distribuute viruses to the nectaries of plants infecting the fruit with viruses that will kill the bugs that get the fruit. In this way one could eliminate the pesticide use, but at present with bugs getting more resistant and bees getting scarcer there needs to be something done. Just a though Garth --- Garth Cambray Kamdini Apiaries 15 Park Road Apis melifera capensis Grahamstown 800mm annual precipitation 6139 Eastern Cape South Africa Phone 27-0461-311663 3rd year Biochemistry/Microbiology Rhodes University Interests: Flii's and Bees. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post in no way reflect those of Rhodes University.