>This was not a lab experiment, there were 30 colonies in the field. The > other two papers on this effect were lab trials. For the benefit of the List, perhaps we should review the study design. The source colonies were kept in the field, and had no demonstrable effect from being fed imidacloprid over 10 weeks. Tellingly, nosema levels in the field colonies did not correlate with exposure to imidacloprid (the "real life" situation). The experiments were done with protein-starved bees held in cages in an incubator. Those bees were inoculated with extraordinarily hive numbers of nosema spores--about 16x higher than that used by most researchers. Note that there was no dose response to treatment, a red flag. There were issues with this study that some reviewers found troubling. The suggested epigenetic effect is of great interest, and needs to be followed up with attempted replication. >And the Vidau paper studies fipronil and thiacloprid. Fipronil is not a > neonicotinoid (but it is also systemic). > From memory, one insecticide increased nosema spore counts, the other decreased. >So is there a flood of research going on now to investigate these interactions? Are the regulators taking note and asking for it? Of course there is! And yes, they are asking. -- Randy Oliver Grass Valley, CA www.ScientificBeekeeping.com *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm