There isn't much in the article on your film but more on dif
Hi Maryam

There isn't much in the article on your film but more on difficulties Bayer are facing over other products.  This is the key sentence (one of three sentences in the article on your film):

<< They theorize that neonicotinoids disrupt bees' navigational abilities, making them dizzy and unable to find their way back to the hive. >>

I watched your film at the local cinema on Saturday, the day after I gave a public talk on the reality of the issues facing bees here in Scotland and internationally, including the US.  I found your film interesting to start with, covering a variety of angles related to CCD, but ultimately took the line that pesticides must be the problem.  This is a real pity, as the issues are very complex and need explained carefully.  People are very receptive to simplified stories about the problems and the film did its best to place neonicotinoids at the centre of that simplified story.

The emerging evidence is that - even in the US where your use of these pesticides is higher than here - neonicotinoids and other farm pesticides are perhaps stressors but certainly not at the centre of the syndrome.  Try these papers if you'd like to check the latest research:

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/08/21/0906970106.abstract

Dennis vanEnglesdorp appears in the film but I suspect was interviewed before he wrote this:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006481

Maryann Frazier is interviewed too.  I'm not sure why it doesn't come across that the biggest pesticide problems in samples from hives in her studies were beekeeper-applied pesticides including fluvalinate and coumaphos.  I don't remember any mention at all of this in your film, even though Maryann was quite open about this in one of her seminars which was available to view online.

The film is getting a lot of publicity in the beekeeping community here, and is (naturally) enthusiastically welcomed by those who already have fixed minds on the role of pesticides in bee problems.  Those of us with more open minds see it as likely to hinder the wider understanding of the complex issues affecting bee health.

all the best

Gavin

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