Pamzella

Ornamental plants that attract bees or other pollinators should not be treated with neonics. if you want poinsettia in your entryway at Christmas, or a houseplant in your bathroom, it won't matter if it was treated because bees aren't interested.

Am thoroughly pro-bee, but this is what came out of the conference at UC Davis last week.

First, that doesn't stop the same people who are worried about purchasing neonic treated plants from doing it! They don't even make the connection, they hear neonics are bad but could not identify imidacloprid, the most frequently found in products Bayer and Scott are marketing to consumers. Plenty more don't care, because unlike nurseries, landscape professionals, etc. They are not required to report their use/register it with the county.

Second, many applications are on lawns and other areas, not flowers (but plenty of rose care products contain it), but drift and the time of day it's applied are not considered by consumers who just want the bugs gone, even if the bees are out foraging at that very moment.

Consumer education could help, but it can't compete with the marketing budgets of Bayer or Scott right now.

I have some in my house, granted it's a bit old, and it suggests lawn treatment every 30 days, when it's effective for 90. Marketing, not science.

Restricting their use is very likely. I have heard it said from a UC Davis professor last spring that 70% of the misuse comes from homeowners. Completely banning is would be hard/have serious consequences due to the presence of invasive pests such as the Asian citrus psyllid, for which neonicotinoids provide the best chance of controlling while minimizing the impact to the rest of the environment (and taking the pollinators into account in application). The older organophosphates that could be used instead are not as targeted on insects and could be more harmful. This was the compelling argument from a conference on neonicotinoids and pollinators at UC Davis last week.

Oh Bruni!

What precautions have you taken to protect yourselves from illness while in Ghana, and what did you think you should do before you arrived but in reality you aren't?

Have you dealt with any women's reproductive issues in your service?

Have you tried the yogurt from the kiosk on the UST campus?

Are there parts that you recommend replacing on a vacuum after much use, parts that may not break or parts that you would recommend replacing before the normal breakage point for best performance? I've often wondered if the brush bar should be replaced not just cleaned sometimes, for example.