[log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask])   writes:

Here is  the Ontario report:
_http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pubs/pest/_fact-fiche/bees-incidents-abeille
s-2012-eng.php_ 
(http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pubs/pest/_fact-fiche/bees-incidents-abeilles-2012-eng.php) 

This 'report' says:
<To date, residue analysis has been completed for 104 bee samples, as  well 
as some samples of pollen and vegetation. Analysis is currently underway  
for an additional set of bee samples. Preliminary residue results show that  
insecticides used to treat corn seed were detected in approximately 70% of 
the  dead bee samples analyzed.>
 
Interesting way of reporting - doesn't say anything about the levels  at 
all, just that they found measureable amounts in 70% of the samples.
I assume detectable means somewhere around 1ppb or higher, since that's 
what  most labs can attain as a limit of detection.  I understand the study is  
preliminary, not complete, but it would have been nice to see them say  
something about whether the majority of the detections were near the limit  of 
detection, or were any or many of them significantly  higher?    
<Based on the preliminary information evaluated to date, there is an  
indication that pesticides used on treated corn seeds may have contributed to at  
least some of the 2012 spring bee losses that occurred in Ontario. > 
That sounds like there may have been a few cases of exposure, but the  
statement has plenty of qualifiers -- an indication, may have,  some.   Frankly, 
I'd rather have waited to see a report when they  had results and a 
conclusion.  This is just frustrating - a  supposed fact sheet on bee incidents 
that should have simply said -  investigations are still ongoing; rather than 
one that hints at findings. 



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