The Boston Globe ran a story based on the press release.  I wrote the following as a letter to the editor....don't know if they will publish it.
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I am writing in reference to “Harvard Study Finds Common Pesticides Kills Bees.”.  Like all beekeepers, I am greatly concerned about how pesticides are used in our local environment and in the production of food, both out of concern for the bees, and for the preservation of our environment in general.  I have been keeping up to date with the CCD related research as it has become available, and I am familiar with Dr. Lu’s study, as I heard him present at the Worcester County Beekeepers Association last month, and I have read the published paper.

It is unfortunate that this material has been presented the way it has in the Globe.  From the outset, there has been a great deal of suspicion within the beekeeping and environmental communities that imidacloprid was a (or the) causative factor in CCD…and this is where much of the initial research was focused.  The lack of imidacloprid being brought back to the hives by the bees has been documented over and over.  If imidacloprid were the culprit it should be easy to identify, and many research funds have been spent trying to find a link that doesn’t appear to be there.

There are two glaring errors in Dr. Lu’s paper and the reporting of it:

1.  The “facts” used to support the hypothesis (“…the first occurrence of CCD in 2006/2007 resulted from the presence of imidacloprid in high-fructose corn syrup fed to honey bees  as an alternative to sucrose-based food.”) do not include any actual measurements of imidacloprid in high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  This is merely a series of assumptions taking the place of what should be some hard data produced by actually finding measurable levels of imidacloprid in HFCS.   There seem to be no reports (published or otherwise) that claim any level of Imidaclprid in HFCS.  It is not news that imidacloprid is toxic to bees.  The levels fed in this study are already known to be toxic to bees.  It is not news that you can kill bees by feeding them imidacloprid.

2.  The title of the study is “In situ replication of honey bee colony collapse disorder”.  CCD is defined by a set of symptoms, as a definitive cause (or causes) has not yet been demonstrated.  The symptoms include that some young bees and a queen are left behind in the collapsed colony. 

The text of the actual study clearly states, “Dead hives were remarkably empty except for stores of food and some pollen left on the frames.”  This is not consistent with any recognized definition of CCD; the author changed the definition of CCD in order to call the result a replication of CCD.  Someone seems to understand this inconsistency, because the press release from the Harvard School of Public Health contradicts the actual study.  “The characteristics of the dead hives were consistent with CCD said Lu; the hives were empty except for food stores, some pollen, and young bees…”.  The article in the Globe seems to have referenced the press release instead of the study.

Like everyone, I would like to see a smoking gun - something specific to point to as a cause.  What I find disturbing here is that there is so much public support to blame chemical companies and/or Big Agriculture.  A study like this adds fuel to the fire.  Given that this paper is clearly not a replication of CCD, it is problematic because if imidacloprid is not responsible for CCD (and this study offers no evidence that it is), it distracts beekeepers, the public, and researchers from looking for other potential causes and reliable data to support or refute them.

I am greatly concerned about the potential and demonstrated dangers of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides.  I would support virtually any effort that would actually reduce the amount of these substances used on public or private land, recreational or agricultural.  imidacloprid is a concern for sure, but this study does not replicate CCD by administering imidacloprid, and it does not point to imidacloprid as a or the cause of CCD.

Dean Stiglitz

Beekeeper

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