> I still don't get the fact that so many people are convinced that this
> type of study has not been done before!
>

It seems that there is only one on this list.


> > The results show that almost all the control honey bees returned to the
> hive, and started again visiting the feeder between 2 to 5 hours after the
> release. Honey bees fed with the concentration of 100 ppb also returned to
> the hive, but they returned to visit the feeder only 24 hours after the
> release. Honey bees fed with 500 ppb and 1000 ppb completely disappeared
> after the release, and they were not seen during the following 24 hours,
> neither at the hive nor at the feeding site.
>

The first RFDI study, is fairly consistent with this study. That those fed
with what was actually found in the field had no problems and higher
dosages (100ppb) were slight or the bees recovered in time.

It is interesting that, even at very high dosages, it appears that the bees
are not killed but act like human drunks who cannot find their way home
until they "sleep it off". Which may explain why there seems to be no
effect on some colonies near neonics such as canola - they sleep it off in
time and return to their permanent locations- but on pumpkins and the like,
right after pollination, they appear weaker or, if they are removed while
the foragers are still affected, they are lower in numbers. (It also could
be that they pick up higher dosages.) The bees are not dieing but are
working off the effects of the neonics. Certainly would explain a lot,
including the Harvard study.

It would also mean that, unlike other pesticides, the neonics are not as
bad on the bees as replacement pesticides which are not systemic but
contact. Surface applied pesticides do an excellent job of killing bees
outright. At even unrealistically high concentrations, the neonics do not
kill but disorient and the bees can recover from the disorientation.

 All in all it is preferable to be drunk rather than dead.

This, BTW, is known as a hypothesis and not a "fact" such as the Harvard
study.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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