The *question* (if certain neonicotinoids are killing bees) could have been
easily answered  *if* a portion of the money congress threw at the problem
( 20 million?) could have been used to set up independent tests to answer
the question.

No amount of information to the contrary is going to persuade anyone who is convinced that neonics cause CCD. The US has spent millions of dollars on this, but they don't find the answers some folks want, so they are condemned for not trying hard enough or looking in the right places.

* * *

USDA concluded in its 2007-2008 progress report (released in June 2009) that "it now seems
clear that no single factor alone is responsible for the malady." This has led researchers to further
examine the hypothesis that CCD may be "a syndrome caused by many different factors, working
in combination or synergistically." Currently, USDA states, researchers are focusing on three
major possibilities:

• pesticides that may be having unexpected negative effects on honey bees;

• a new parasite or pathogen that may be attacking honey bees, such as the parasite
Nosema ceranae or viruses; and

• a combination of existing stresses that may compromise the immune system of
bees and disrupt their social system, making colonies more susceptible to disease
and collapse.

Total ARS funding for honey bee and CCD research averaged more than $7.7 million each in
FY2007 and FY2008, increasing to $8.3 million in FY2009 and $9.8 million for FY2010.

Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
Renée Johnson, Specialist in Agricultural Policy
January 7, 2010

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