> What are needed are studies that collect pollen and nectar from the 
variety
 > of weeds and native plants that invade or grow adjacent to treated 
fields.
 >  Krupke's recent data suggest that bees may find patches of flowers with
 > high levels.

Now we are talking.

All previous work as far as I know uses gross samples and averages.  
This is understandable due to the high cost of sampling and analysis, 
but that method conceals the devil, which is hidden in the details.  We 
also know that it is possible to conduct an earnest and expensive search 
for something and not find it, particularly if finding it does not suit 
the purposes of the organization financing the searching and my result 
in punishment or disgrace.

When I did soil sampling for fertilizer application, decades ago, we 
knew that just taking a few samples would lead to error.  Since in those 
days, it was not feasible to change application rates continuously over 
a field, we took a number samples from each distinct area and averaged 
them to arrive at a compromise application recommendation for that part 
of the field.

These days, with GPS in combines and satellite imagery, and continuously 
variable computer drive equipment, it is feasible to match the 
application to specific regions in a field.  The cost may still be 
higher than the benefit.  I don't know since I am not keeping up.

The point here is that soil is not just soil, and that it varies greatly 
over even one field , particularly in areas where erosion has taken 
place or where the terrain is uneven.  Any composite sample is bound to 
be quite unrepresentative of many, if not most of the field and 
certainly will not describe the extremes.

Back to bees and insecticides: Can we sample at the degree of 
granularity that the individual bee experiences?  I doubt it, but any 
attempt to look at the trees and not the forest is bound to turn up 
anomalies and specific instances which have been concealed to present.

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