http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/Colony-Collapse-Pesticides-Bees.aspx

A report by Maryann Frazier, senior extension associate at Pennsylvania State University, points to a new study from Italy suggests honeybees may be ingesting neonicotinoids at levels 1,000 times higher than that in pollen or nectar via water droplets expressed from the leaves of corn grown from the pesticide-coated seed. This “guttation water” is a common source of liquid for forager bees. The concentrations in the droplets were high enough to kill bees within five minutes of consumption.

Frazier also highlights a study from North Carolina University that found the neonicotinoid Terraguard and the fungicide Procure had synergistic affects when combined, increasing the danger of the neonicotinoid to honeybees to over 1,000 times its original toxicity. The researchers at Penn State are concerned that even sub-lethal doses of these pesticides, while not killing the bees, are impairing their behavior and suppressing their immune systems.

“Their use has increased dramatically over the past few years and they are now the most widely used group of insecticides in the United States,” writes Frazier.

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