I am not in the least discounting that there are indeed adverse effects
from sublethal exposure to neonics.

What I'm unclear on is the compensatory mechanism that the bee neurons use
to deal with neonic binding.  The binding "blocks" the sodium gates open,
if not irreversibly, for at least some extended period of time.  Such
sticking of those sodium gates would help to create the formation of action
potentials.

In order to compensate for those open gates, the bee's brain would be
expected to cause those receptor gates to atrophy or something.  Such
compensatory mechanisms could conceivably have a lasting effect long after
the neonic was gone (as with human brains after childhood exposure to
certain chemicals).

I suspect that this is where we should turn our focus.  I, as many others
on the List, have only rudimentary understanding of neurology, so
Christina, could you please help us here?  Do you know how the bee synapses
compensate for the neonic-induced flooding via the sodium channels?

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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