Bob writes:

Penn State ( and the CCD team) in their writings as do many other
researchers point to illegal use of miticides as the source of our
problems. Strictly hypothesis which can not be proven!

[Not so. In fact, they suggest that long term application of miticides may increase honey bees' resistance to pesticides.]

coumaphos (and/or fluvalinate)
tolerance in bees provides cross-resistance to pesticide exposures
from other organophosphates and pyrethroids which may be
affecting CCD-afflicted bees at sub-lethal doses. Honey bees, as
compared to other insects, are notably lacking in detoxification
enzymes which provide moderate levels of cross-resistance to
pesticides. Any enhancement in these enzyme levels may
greatly improve the ability of bees to tolerate the numerous
pesticides they encounter in-hive or while foraging.

we cannot make any definitive statement
concerning which factors do or do not contribute to or cause CCD.

This study
suggests that future, longitudinal studies should focus on
monitoring parasite (varroa mite), pathogen, and pesticide loads
while quantifying pesticide tolerance in study populations.


"Colony Collapse Disorder: A Descriptive Study" August 2009
Dennis vanEngelsdorp 1,2  (et al)

1 Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 
2 Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America

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