New paper by Dennis van Engelsdorp, et al rejects neonics as a significant factor in honeybee decline:


> Despite the absence of decisive experimental results, our analysis shows that while the proposition is a substantially justified conjecture in the context of current knowledge, it is also substantially contraindicated by a wide variety of circumstantial epidemiological evidence.

> We conclude that dietary neonicotinoids cannot be implicated in honey bee declines, but this position is provisional because important gaps remain in current knowledge. We therefore identify avenues for further investigations to resolve this longstanding uncertainty.

> Based on our evaluation, we conclude that trace dietary neonicotinoids are not implicated in population declines of honey bees. 


Dietary traces of neonicotinoid pesticides as a cause of population declines in honey bees: an evaluation by Hill’s epidemiological criteria
James E. Cresswell, Nicolas Desneux, and Dennis vanEngelsdorp
Pest Management Science
© 2012 Society of Chemical Industry

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