I heartily second Michael's lament about seed collectors -- and his gratitude to the Saunderses. I dearly hope someone steps into these vacuums. (Particularly Mexico and Crete, if I have to be specific). I also second what I imagine are everyone's concerns about honeybees. For what it's worth, the wikipedia page on imidacloprid indicates that none of the studies done since the ban in France have found a meaningful effect on honeybees, but I would take that with a grain of salt. The UC Davis IPM site, which I strongly recommend to all gardeners (although it could be better indexed), has a useful table of pesticides that includes relative bee hazards: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r107302911.html That same site also says that iron phosphate baits like Sluggo are "safe for use around" domestic animals and birds (as well is children, which is my most immediate concern at the moment). All I know is that I drastically reduced my Sluggo use after Kathleen described what happened to her chickens a few years ago, then was forced to increase it after several losses -- and lack of commitment to handpicking that I will blame on aforementioned children rather than my own laziness. I observed no ill affects among the towhees that frequent my yard (who cycle rather too thoroughly through the top layers of my soil, undoubtedly ingesting some iron phosphate along with the Calochortus seeds). This was by no means a scientific observation. But although I use it more now, I still sprinkle rather than blanket. Best Max Oakland