>
> >Is this good science?
>

Good question Bill.  But perhaps it should be phrased, "Is this relevant
science?"

Both Drs. Wu and Spivak are dedicated and excellent scientists.  I've
spoken with Judy at length during the course of her research.

When testing for adverse effects of a medicine or pesticide, scientists
often test at higher levels than an organism would normally be expected to
be exposed to.  This is done to identify potential effects, which are then
looked for at more realistic exposure levels.

Judy's research was done on tiny nucleus colonies so as to allow her to
better quantify any effects.  There were clearly adverse effects, as would
be expected from feeding a tiny colony a strong neurostimulant (imagine
dosing a group of daycare workers with 20 cups of strong coffee a day).

The question then, is whether her results are relevant to the field.  As
Charlie points out, field data show that colonies are typically exposed to
much lower levels of neonics, and generally for only brief periods of time.


Other studies show that a normal-sized colony exhibits some sort of
"buffering" effect, and can readily deal with continual exposure of the
workforce to syrup containing up to around 50 ppb of IMI.  Indeed, a
concurrent study from another researcher at U. of Minn., in which
full-sized colonies were fed continual  high doses of IMI, did not find an
adverse effect (I know this because the study was inadvertently posted to
the U. of M. website, and then taken down when I asked questions about it.
I suspect that it may never be published).

In conclusion, yes, the study was good science by excellent researchers.
It warns us that tiny nucs should not be fed imidacloprid, and supports
other findings that *bumblebee* colonies, at their initiation, are
negatively affected by exposure to neonics.  It also supports other
research that there may be effects  on queens with serious exposure to
neonics.

But those findings must be balanced by other published (and many
unpublished) studies that found no observable adverse effects upon "normal"
colonies exposed to "normal" or even excessive, amounts of neonics.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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