I have known about this paper for months and was keenly awaiting it. It is freely available, here's a tiny url to get the PDF

http://tinyurl.com/yc4a8fp

It is not an easy read so here are some of the highlights, with my comments

> We have found unprecedented levels of miticides and agricultural pesticides in honey bee colonies from across the US and one Canadian province.  The data contained here is the largest sampling of pesticide residues in N. American bee colonies or worldwide to date, and represents a cost of nearly $175,000 for the analyses alone. 

(me: this kind of comprehensive testing is very expensive)

> Most noteworthy were the very high levels of the fungicide chlorothalonil in pollen and wax as well as ppm levels of the insecticides aldicarb, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos and imidacloprid, fungicides boscalid, captan and myclobutanil, and herbicide pendimethalin. With an average of 7 pesticides in a pollen sample, the potential for multiple pesticide interactions affecting bee health seems likely. T

(me: fungicides are a real problem for bees, may be causing unforeseen effects)

> Almost all wax and pollen samples (98.4%) contained two or more pesticide residues, of which greater than 83% were fluvalinate and coumaphos. Clearly, substantial residues of these bee-toxic pyrethroid and organophosphate compounds prevailed together in most beehives sampled. Chronic exposures to high levels of these persistent neurotoxicants elicits both acute and sublethal reductions in honey bee fitness, especially queens, and they can interact synergistically on bee mortality. 

(me: the most widespread pesticide contamination comes from miticides added by beekeepers, which can harm bees in the long run)

> The affects of chronic exposure to pyrethroids, organophosphates, neonicotinoids, fungicides and other pesticides can range from lethal and/or sub-lethal effects in brood and workers to reproductive effects on the queen. Attempts to correlate global bee declines or CCD with increased pesticide exposures alone have not been successful to date. It seems to us that it is far too early to attempt to link or to dismiss pesticide impacts with CCD.

(me: all of these things together can have a negative effect on bees, brood, and the queen. However, pesticides can't be directly linked to CCD)

* * *

If neonics were the main culprit in mass bee die-off, these people would have discovered it. Why? First, because they are not biased and did not set out to prove anything. Second, the credentials of these people are impeccable. Their thinking has not been twisted by Bayer, and they have no hidden agenda to promote. They are trying to find out the truth behind bee losses. Finally, the way it was funded is instructive:

> Funding was received from the Florida State Beekeepers, National Honey Board, Penn State College of Agriculture Sciences, Project Apis mellifera (PAm), Tampa Bay Beekeepers, The Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees, and the United States Department of Agriculture Critical Issues program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. 

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