>> if you take the total amount of imidacloprid fed to the hive, and divide it
>> by a "conservative" number of bees (80,000)...

I have to wonder where that 80,000 number came from and why it is 
considered conservative and not subject to widespread challenge -- even 
from newbees,

The number that used to be a consensus for average peak bee populations 
was, as I recall, 35,000.  Now, maybe _that_ number is conservative. I don't
 know, not having been everywhere and not having seen everything.   Maybe 
someone has references to actual peak population counts handy?

At 3,500 bees per lb, 35,000 is around ten pounds which is not too far out of 
line with my experience when we shook packages from mature hives.

Did the authors just grab a number out of the air, or did they actually know
how many bees were in  the hives at the time of treatments?  Why did they 
think this number to be "conservative" when I think most beekeepers 
would consider it off the top of the chart and only hope to have such a 
strong colony when running two queens.

Just sayin'...

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