From Page A12:
Worker bees exhibited up to a fourfold increase in nosema levels when they
originated from colonies that had been fed imidacloprid indicating a subtle
sub-lethal interaction between pesticides and pathogens. This research has
been submitted for publication and similar findings have recently been
published from a study in France in Environmental Microbiology, 2009.
This is the unpublished study that I referred Randy to contact Dennis Van
Engelsdorp about. The key thing here is that the bees that were fed the
very small amounts of imidacloprid did not die (the amounts were very
small). But the brood that they fed was quite affected (fourfold increase
in nosema) and yet there was no trace of imidacloprid that could be found in
that brood. This raises questions about the tunnel studies that do not show
immediate effects. The studies have to be long term term, and looking for
the pesticide in the bees bodies may not be sufficient. That is the problem
with something with effects that are close to the limit of detection.
Stan
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