> did they kill colonies by force feeding an insecticide already known to be toxic?

That is exactly what they did. Everyone knows insecticides kill insects! Big surprise! The question is whether this class of insecticides is directly responsible for mass bee die-offs, which has been shown to be not the case. 

In fact, in most studies conducted where die-offs have actually occurred, the lack of varroa control was implicated time and time again. Everybody wants to blame somebody else. 

The bottom line however, which has been underscored here many times over, is that it is an error to demonize and alienate farmers and growers. They're the ones who are feeding us all, not bees. 

Pete

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