Was: For readers of Beesource following Stromnessbees outburst

[lindsay s]

Just when I thought that Doris was going to give up on pesticides here she goes again. It's a pity I used some beet sugar last week to boost a colony that was low on stores, those bees are doomed! A lot beekeepers up here are beginners so Doris's word is gospel.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/orkney...rs/message/416

[Jon]

Good luck to you on Orkney Lindsay!!
That stuff about beet sugar having neonicotinoids in it is complete gibberish, as I am sure you already know. But why let facts get in the way of another conspiracy. The beet sugar/cane sugar debate has been going for about 60 years now. The products are identical. They are routinely tested for contaminants like any food product.

[Neils]

You don't tend to get stories likethese around UK beet sugar though, but never mind, it's all about the pesticides.

[gavin]

When Chandler's supposition about beet sugar was doing the rounds I wrote to Tate & Lyle (or was it British Sugar) and got a nice reply from Richard Ali about their testing regime and its findings. Nothing, at a level of detection of 1ppb I think. I posted all this on the BBKA forum but goodness knows how you'll find it on there now after the changes. Pure fantasy, utterly debunked, and it is still being propagated.

[Jon]

This is what gets me about conspiracy theories.
1. No evidence will ever be presented for this claim about contamination of beet sugar, as there is no evidence - other than rambling by conspiracy theorists on the internet.
2. Does anyone really believe that a ubiquitous product such as sugar which is consumed in large quantities by humans is not routinely screened and tested for contaminants?
3. Just confirms that it is the giant lizards in control of the forum.
4. If your bees need to be fed, give them some sugar syrup from whatever source.

[lindsay s]

I'm not worried about my bees Jon just Doris.

[gavin]

I see that she posted the sugar conspiracy one at 3:24am, maybe there is a pattern emerging here?

Lots of bolding and even some with italics at the same time.

[Jon]

Not talking about Doris here, but the bee world, especially the internet bee world is full of gurus and some of them are PP beekeepers as in the way the Americans talk about PPB.
Phil Chandler, on his own forum, mentioned that he had been 'wiped out' three times in the past ten years.
This is nothing to do with pesticides and everything to do with lack of adequate varroa control.
If you live in a varroa area, the key to successful beekeeping is managing varroa and to some extent nosema imho.
Swarm control and other management techniques also apply in what makes up a successful beekeeper.
In spite of this poor success rate, Uncle Phil is a guru to many who chose to follow his methods.
How can anyone who has such a poor beekeeping record set himself up as an example to follow.
One of the mysteries of the universe.