Actually neonics can only harm pollinators if sprayed on crops that are pollinated... which is actually very few crops. Corn, wheat, rice, potatoes and soybeans do not require insect pollination and supply most of our macronutrients/calories(both directly and as animal products after feeding). Poliinators rarely visit corn... I have a colony of bees in the middle of about 200 acres of conventional corn with no ill effects whatsoever. Neonics on corn and other row crops are mostly done as a seed treatment and therefore there is no drift onto adjacent flowering plants... and the amount of material is very small relative to a foliar spray. Vegetables are only on about 1% of all croplands. Of the common vegetables only cucurbits(squash/pumpkins, melons and cucumbers) and okra require insect pollination to grow their edible portions... if you are growing out seed for other vegetables that require insect pollination then you just don't spray neonics on them. This practice is actually required in most pesticide labels and therefore legally the applicator is obliged to follow it.

I tried the Mr. Clean magic eraser. It helped the tile a little, but not the grout. Next will be the straight bleach. I'll try to do it tomorrow with lots of fans in the windows because guess what? no exhaust fans :( The kitchen is getting there. We've used up about 4 Mr. Clean magic erasers in there on the cabinets. Seems to work better than most of the cleaning supplies like sprays and Lysol sanitizing and disinfecting wipes. Someone needs to buy stock in those considering all of them that we've gone through! I'm going ot try the TSP solution for the walls and I will probably go over the doors and door frames again with it (if it will not hurt them). Too bad I probably can't use it on the carpets. I believe the resin stuff--everything is sticky. Or was. We've taken down all the blinds and shoved them in the attic. It's amazing how filthy the windows were. My husband found a wasps nest inside the windows :( :( :( We are soooo focused on saving lots of money and moving to our Final Destination as we've begun to call it. Selling turned into a mini-nightmare and we're not eager to repeat the experience, so we're going to be rather picky with what we buy. We already have our neighborhood targeted =D Now time to search the cooking archives for advice on using our new convection microwave. I'm not cooking in that oven, don't care how clean I get it! Well, I say that now, but you guys know I will :) The hubby spent 3 hours scrubbing 2 racks. Too bad we couldn't just put them in some dewey grass-----HOA rules would prohibit it. Thank goodness for Dawn spray! Otherwise it might've taken 6 hours.

Hi Folks! Just thought I post an update on the cleaning process. I've tried lots of products and lots of methods. For me, what works best is: Greased Lightning, lots of rinsing and wiping with paper towels. Here's what I do. I have two buckets of HOT water, loads of dish cloths, sponge scrubbers--the kind with the nylon netting around them, two scrub brushes and lots of paper towels. I "pre-wipe" the wall with a sponge and a spot (really a tiny bit) of Joy. I keep it so dry enough so it does not drip and make circles. It takes of the loose surface grime. I start at the bottom and work my way up--thanks to advice I gained on the cleaning forum. Next, I use the Greased Lightning. Again I start at the bottom and work up--trying to keep the drips under control. I squirt it on the wall, scrub it with a scrub brush--vigorously! Doing an arms length patch. After the scrub brush I use a cloth form the clean water and wipe the area just cleaned--I keep this water the clean water and never dip into it--unless I have a DAH moment! Next, I wipe it down with the paper towel--gross! Then, I do it again using the nylon covered sponge scrubbing the GL covered wall and wipe it down with a fresh cloth, depending on how bad it is says how many time I have to do this. I noticed if I just let the water sit on there after the GL and wipe it with the clean cloth side ways and up and down, I always get more grime. The paper towels seem to take off a lot of what the wet cloths loosen. This process is slow but works great, you can see from the link what it looks like. If you go to the more recent update of 6-14-07 you can see another room being done. Hope this helps the next person with filth like I have..... Leasa Here is a link that might be useful: Cleaning process

I had the misfortune to find out that the gypsy moth caterpillars like this type of rose. And didn't find out it was prone to caterpillars until this week. I managed to hand pick them off and put them in a plastic container filled with warm water and dish detergent soap. Then when finished I tossed water with them in it over on to the vacant lot that is all dirt and where the local grocery store once stood. I have found one on it today so pulled it off and pitched it over onto the same lot. When I asked about one of the garden centre employees what would be the best bet to use on them she said the BK one but since it is such a bad year this year for them everybody was buying it from them with result being they are out of stock on it and have no idea when they will be getting anymore in. Said there was the Safer bug spray too but were out of stock on it too. But hoped to get more in sometime this week. I only have the one for indoor plants. I also was talking to the lady whom I am friendly with as she and I at one time shared a flower garden out the front. Anyway she now has one out the back up against the fence and it was also that the two of us saw a clearwing come to her phlox!!!!!! Got pictures of it. What an fascinating cute thing it is!!!!! She said she just sprays her flowers and plants with garlic powder and water. And I have not seen any caterpillars on any of hers!!!! I came across a recipe online where one adds 2 cups of water and 2 tbsp of garlic powder. Mix it up and then spray on plants. If it rains will have to reapply it. Sooo how much do I use on each plant or do I mix up the above and spray it on all the leaves.?? Will it also recover from them. Here is a picture of it. Not sure if it would help wrapping the stem as they can still climb up the wall of the building. But maybe spraying it with that garlic solution might deter them.