Greetings
One of my biggest complaints about this argument is that there seems to be a lot of people saying that so and so should have looked at pesticides, instead of virus, or nosema or whatever. These folks are too lazy to do the homework to find out who has looked into this and what they have found. Detecting parts per billion and doing long range studies is unbelievably expensive, but the work IS being done. Nobody is trying to cover anything up or ignore any plausible factors.

QUOTED:

In the United States, a CCD Steering Committee mandated by
Congress was formed to examine potential causes of CCD and
develop approaches to its mitigation. The California Department
of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) has begun a reevaluation
of chemicals in the nitroguanidine insecticide class of neonicotinoids
containing the active ingredients of imidacloprid, clothianidin,
dinotefuran, and thiamethoxam. In Europe, similar
efforts are underway in several countries: decisions have been
made to suspend or temporarily suspend the use of imidacloprid
and clothianidin as seed treatments in France, Germany, Italy,
and Slovenia, although foliar uses are allowed. Some of the
suspensions were recently lifted in 2008.

An analytical method was refined for the extraction and determination of neonicotinoid pesticide residues
and their metabolites in honey bees and bee products. This refined method provides lower
detection limits and improved recovery of neonicotinoids and their metabolites, which will help
researchers evaluate *subchronic effects* of these pesticides, address data gaps related to colony collapse
disorder (CCD), and determine the role of pesticides in pollinator decline.

The present work aims to refine the QuEChERS extraction
approach and develop an analytical method for the analysis of
neonicotinoid insecticides and their metabolites. The target
recoveries are aimed to fall within 70-120% and to reach
*sub-parts-per-billion* detection limits in bees, bee pollen, and
bee honey to help risk assessors determine the role of these
insecticides in CCD and pollinator decline, if any.

Refined Methodology for the Determination of Neonicotinoid
Pesticides and Their Metabolites in Honey Bees and Bee
Products by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass
Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)
J. Agric. Food Chem. 
2010, 58, 5926–5931

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