Randy said:
<I was at the California Queen Breeders meeting yesterday, and was told
nearly the exact same thing by a major U.S. bee researcher who is involved
with field tests of neonics--that what happens in the lab to stressed bees
in cages is generally not what is observed in the field.>

         There is so much "stuff" that goes on out in the field that is not in our control
that I think it would be hard to correlate subtle interactions- such as the effect
 sub lethal concentrations of systemic pesticides might have on the neurological health
of developing young bees- unless one resorted to a controlled lab study. Just because
an “effect” is not observable in a field study doesn’t negate the laboratory finding. We
currently ban some chemicals because they are carcinogenic to humans. Those
 determinations of carcinogenic potential must necessarily come from lab studies
 on rats and mice, however. Would it not be reasonable to also set up such a LABORATORY
 protocol on pesticides (and combinations of pesticides) to protect our pollinators?

         Incidentally the enhanced susceptibility of bees with nosema to sub lethal levels of
Imidacloprid that is the subject of this discussion thread is referred to in the USDA-ARS
2010 CCD report that can be seen at: 
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/ccd/ccdprogressreport2010.pdf
Just go to that web site and search the document for the words "sub-lethal".
You will find all sorts of interesting references to pesticides and on-going research.
                                         Ernie Huber

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