Peter L Borst  wrote:>Twenty-one percent of 3,389 beekeepers indicated  that they did not know the cause of death of the colonies in their operation that had died.  Among beekeepers who experienced losses and indicated at least one reason why they lost colonies, the top five most frequent reasons given, in order, were: starvation; weak colonies in the fall; poor wintering conditions; poor queens; and varroa mites<

Can surveying ordinary beekeepers on cause of death of their colonies really produce reliable data?  Do you not need a scientist - and even scientists have not found a cause for death with CCD symptoms. 

If exposure of larvae to very small doses of pesticides  in pollen does affect development of say the brain, how would ordinary beekeepers know to cite that as cause of colony death? If bees are weakened generally by exposure to pesticides, might that not be the reason why colonies were weak in the fall and so failed to store enough for winter and so starved.  Might not poor naturally produced queens also the a consequence of exposure of the queen larvae to pesticides?  

As said before, neonics have been designed to be incredibly strong insecticides.  As said before,  we need more research into all the possible effects of exposing bee larvae to very low doses of pesticides and less saying it is business as usual and beekeepers just need to try harder. 

Not anguishing, just feeling very concerned that maybe we cannot release powerful poisons into the environment without unwanted collateral damage. 

Robin 
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