All colonies were fed equal amounts of sucrose syrup until
natural forage was abundant in May. Treatments consisted of
untreated Megabee® protein patties (100 g each) or patties
containing 5 and 20 ppb of imidacloprid made by mixing neat
material with the sucrose solution used to make the protein
patties.

We verified pesticide exposure to colonies by measuring
the weekly consumption of the treated protein patties and by
analyzing the level of imidacloprid in stored bee bread and
random-aged bees removed from colonies 1 week after the
exposure period

The current study, with the more robust chronic sublethal
pesticide exposure at the colony level, clearly demonstrates
that such interactions are possible in the real world, not
just in a laboratory setting.

Individual bees in our study
showed a marked increase in Nosema spore production in
the laboratory but the parent colonies failed to show increased
Nosema levels over time.

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