I take issue with Pete's statement:



"This is still in the realm of conjecture. No one has been able to show actual harm in the field."



How many studies need doing that all show harm, before it becomes apparent that there is enough evidence to be concerned?

I'd say there is plenty of published evidence and I am concerned.

Look at the partial bibliography below.

Of course, Pete and others can go through this and find fault with each paper just as others could go through the equally extensive list of papers claiming no harm and find fault with those.

The verdict may not be clear as yet, but there is certainly plenty of evidence on either side of this fence.

No honest scientist would deny that.  Europe is practicing prudence, and not "the precautionary principle", in spite of what those enamored of current agrobusiness practices like to think.



It is disingenuous to pretend that "no one" has shown harm.  The Emperor is not wearing any clothes, Pete.



Christina



Belzunces, Luc P., Sylvie Tchamitchian, and Jean-Luc Brunet. "Neural effects of insecticides in the honey bee." Apidologie 43.3 (2012): 348-370.



Brittain, Claire, and Simon G. Potts. "The potential impacts of insecticides on the life-history traits of bees and the consequences for pollination." Basic and Applied Ecology 12.4 (2011): 321-331.



Cresswell, James E. "A meta-analysis of experiments testing the effects of a neonicotinoid insecticide (imidacloprid) on honey bees." Ecotoxicology 20.1 (2011): 149-157.



Decourtye, Axel, and James Devillers. "Ecotoxicity of neonicotinoid insecticides to bees." Insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Springer New York, 2010. 85-95.



Decourtye, Axel, Eric Lacassie, and Minh‐Hà Pham‐Delègue. "Learning performances of honeybees (Apis mellifera L) are differentially affected by imidacloprid according to the season." Pest management science 59.3 (2003): 269-278.



Decourtye, Axel, et al. "Honeybee tracking with microchips: a new methodology to measure the effects of pesticides." Ecotoxicology 20.2 (2011): 429-437.



Desneux, Nicolas, Axel Decourtye, and Jean-Marie Delpuech. "The sublethal effects of pesticides on beneficial arthropods." Annu. Rev. Entomol. 52 (2007): 81-106.



Di Prisco, Gennaro, et al. "Neonicotinoid clothianidin adversely affects insect immunity and promotes replication of a viral pathogen in honey bees." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2013): 201314923.



FRAZIER, JIM, CHRIS MULLIN, and MARYANN FRAZIER. "Pesticides and Their Involvement in Colony Collapse Disorder."



Gill, Richard J., Oscar Ramos-Rodriguez, and Nigel E. Raine. "Combined pesticide exposure severely affects individual-and colony-level traits in bees." Nature 491.7422 (2012): 105-108.



Goulson, Dave. "An overview of the environmental risks posed by neonicotinoid insecticides." Journal of Applied Ecology (2013).



Hatjina, Fani, et al. "Sublethal doses of imidacloprid decreased size of hypopharyngeal glands and respiratory rhythm of honeybees in vivo." Apidologie (2013): 1-14.



Henry, Mickaël, et al. "A common pesticide decreases foraging success and survival in honey bees." Science 336.6079 (2012): 348-350.



Karise, Reet. Foraging behaviour and physiology of bees: impact of insecticides. Diss. 2009.



Mason, Rosemary, et al. "Immune suppression by neonicotinoid insecticides at the root of global wildlife declines." Journal of Environmental Immunology and Toxicology 1.1 (2013): 3-12.



MATSUMOTO, Takashi. "Reduction in homing flights in the honey bee Apis mellifera after a sublethal dose of neonicotinoid insecticides." Bulletin of Insectology 66.1 (2013): 1-9.



Mommaerts, Veerle, et al. "Risk assessment for side-effects of neonicotinoids against bumblebees with and without impairing foraging behavior." Ecotoxicology 19.1 (2010): 207-215.



Schneider, Christof W., et al. "RFID tracking of sublethal effects of two neonicotinoid insecticides on the foraging behavior of Apis mellifera." PLoS One 7.1 (2012): e30023.



Tapparo, Andrea, et al. "Assessment of the environmental exposure of honeybees to particulate matter containing neonicotinoid insecticides coming from corn coated seeds." Environmental science & technology 46.5 (2012): 2592-2599.



van der Sluijs, Jeroen P., et al. "Neonicotinoids, bee disorders and the sustainability of pollinator services." Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (2013).



van Praagh, Jacob P., and Egbert Touw. "Scanning & analysing individual bee (Apis mellifera L.) behavior using RFID." Julius-Kühn-Archiv 437 (2012): 99.



Wilson, Elizabeth K. "Pesticides Harm Hive Behavior." (2012): 10-10. cen.acs.org



Wu, Judy Y., et al. "Honey bees (< i> Apis mellifera</i>) reared in brood combs containing high levels of pesticide residues exhibit increased susceptibility to< i> Nosema</i>(Microsporidia) infection." Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 109.3 (2012): 326-329.



Wu, Judy Yu. Sub-lethal Effects of Pesticide Residues in Brood Comb on Worker Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera L.). Diss. Washington State University, 2010.



Yang, E. C., et al. "Abnormal foraging behavior induced by sublethal dosage of imidacloprid in the honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae)." Journal of economic entomology 101.6 (2008): 1743-1748.



Yang, En-Cheng, et al. "Impaired olfactory associative behavior of honeybee workers due to contamination of imidacloprid in the larval stage." PloS one 7.11 (2012): e49472.



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