>
> "--the researchers' data clearly show high varroa levels in the colonies
> in the UK going into winter."
> >Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
>

That was hardly my point.  My point was that if we choose to post about a
paper, that we should first read the paper thoroughly.

>
> >"In the UK, honey bees had a narrower diet breadth...than those of either
> Germany or Hungary. Honey bees in the UK and Hungary also foraged on higher
> proportions of pollen originating from oilseed rape than Germany."


Of course context matters.  In the case above, varroa infestation is
largely a function of broodrearing--thus less mite buildup under conditions
of poor forage.  Please refer to their data table S2A, in which you can
easily see that the colonies in the UK reared very little brood compared to
those elsewhere.

As far as the difference in neonic exposure, please refer to data table
S7A, in which you can easily see that the overall exposure to neonics in
the UK colonies was less than that of the colonies in Germany.

Christina, I'm a bit disappointed that you appear to have strong
preconceived prejudices prior to reading these studies.  We can all learn
more if we carefully read the papers, and only then objectively determine
whether the data support the conclusions of the authors, or whether the
evidence has been spun.

There are clearly problems associated with all insecticides, but some of us
are getting tired of the tunnel vision focus upon the neonics.  It's clear
that agriculture in general applies far too much pesticide, and that every
pesticide has adverse effects upon some species.

In the case of the neonics, bumblebees, some solitary bees, and some
aquatic invertebrates are clearly adversely effected.  Honey bees are also
effected, but due to their large colonies, there appears to be a buffering
effect.  Geoff William's recent studies has brought the possibility of
queen issues to the fore, so I'm following research closely along that
line, but I don't find the data from Tsvetkov to be able to support that
hypothesis.

I note that there are a number of queen producers in the neonic-rich
Midwest, listed here
<http://ourbeeblog.blogspot.co.nz/2015/10/midwest-queen-suppliers.html>.
If any of you read this could you please let us know whether you have
problems producing mated queens, and whether you observe an elevated degree
of premature queen failure?
-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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