I still don't get the fact that so many people are convinced that this type of study has not been done before!

Effects of sub-lethal imidacloprid doses on the homing rate and foraging activity of honey bees
Laura BORTOLOTTI, et al (2003)

Abstract
> For several years, reports by French and Italian beekeepers have been suggesting a lethal effect of imidacloprid on honey bees; in particular, the molecule has been related to honey bee mortality and decrease of hive populations, affecting the orientation and ability of honey bees to return to the hive.

> In this paper we investigate the effects of sub-lethal doses of imidacloprid on foraging activity and homing ability of honey bees. Honey bees from one hive were trained to forage on an artificial feeder filled with a 50% sucrose solution. The feeder was gradually moved up to a distance of 500 meters from the hive. 

> The results show that almost all the control honey bees returned to the hive, and started again visiting the feeder between 2 to 5 hours after the release. Honey bees fed with the concentration of 100 ppb also returned to the hive, but they returned to visit the feeder only 24 hours after the release. Honey bees fed with 500 ppb and 1000 ppb completely disappeared after the release, and they were not seen during the following 24 hours, neither at the hive nor at the feeding site.

>  Further studies are needed to investigate if such conditions can actually occur in the field.

[ten years later -- where are the field effects?]

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