The new issue of Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry has a  
whole section devoted to "Emerging Pesticide Residue Issues and  
Analytical Approaches" with one paper on bees and neonic detection.

Refined Methodology for the Determination of Neonicotinoid Pesticides  
and Their Metabolites in Honey Bees and Bee Products by Liquid  
Chromatography−Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)
Alaa Kamel
pp 5926–5931
Publication Date (Web): 17 Feb 2010 (Article)
DOI: 10.1021/jf904120n
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf904120n

An analytical method was refined for the extraction and determination  
of neonicotinoid pesticide residues and their metabolites in honey  
bees and bee products. Samples were extracted with 2% triethylamine  
(TEA) in acetonitrile (ACN) followed by salting out, solid phase  
extraction (SPE) cleanup, and detection using liquid chromatography 
−tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The method was validated in  
triplicate at three fortification concentrations in each matrix. Good  
recoveries were observed for most analytes and ranged between 70 and  
120% with relative standard deviations between replicates of <20% in  
most cases. The method limits of detection were 0.2 ng/g for the  
parent neonicotinoid pesticides and ranged between 0.2 and 15 ng/g  
for the neonicotinoid metabolites. This refined method provides lower  
detection limits and improved recovery of neonicotinoids and their  
metabolites, which will help researchers evaluate subchronic effects  
of these pesticides, address data gaps related to colony collapse  
disorder (CCD), and determine the role of pesticides in pollinator  
decline.

cheers,
Kurt

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