more from the Nature paper

Pollen collected by honey bees was consistently contaminated 
with pesticides throughout the 16-week period and the
overwhelming majority of pollen was collected from noncultivated
plants. 

Pesticide residue analyses of bee-collected pollen
revealed contamination by up to 32 different pesticides
spanning 9 chemical classes. The most common pesticide
types detected in pollen samples across all sites were fungicides
and herbicides. 

The carbamates, neonicotinoids and organophosphates were generally 
less prevalent in pollen than the fungicides and herbicides. Although
a variety of agricultural pesticides were found at all sites, the
contaminants likely to provide the greatest hazard to honey bees
in our study were non-agricultural pyrethroid insecticides
targeting nuisance pests such as mosquitoes. 

Bees from all
colonies in our study collected the vast majority of their pollen
from non-crop plants even when pollen-producing field crops
were abundant in the landscape, suggesting that pollen from these
crops is not a preferred food source.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html