>
> >Especially troubling is the potential for synergistic effects between
> many fungicides, which interfere with mitochondrial metabolism, and
> insecticides.  The fungicide is not supposed to be toxic to bees, but it
> works by inhibiting a mitochondrial detoxification pathway that all insects
> rely on, including bees.
>

Back when CCD was first being blamed on neonics, I started looking at the
rates of pesticide applications in order to see whether there were
correlations between reported colony losses and pesticide applications.
Time and again, the rapid increase in fungicide applications appeared to
correlate with colony problems.

We who pollinate almonds, where our bees are regularly exposed to
fungicides, are well aware of this, as we can easily observe the adverse
effects.  Those effects are generally independent of insecticides, which
are seldom applied to almonds during bloom.  Time and again, as I read lab
studies of synergies, I more and more suspect that fungicide/insecticide
interactions are something that we need to pay more attention to.

Regarding the post that bees are exposed via the weeds under the trees, the
point of the Cornell study is that the residues found while bees were
pollinating apples (other than fungicides) did NOT come from the apple
growers (whose spray records were recorded).  Those residues came from off
orchard.

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

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