Stan said:

> I don't even want to suggest that Imidaclopid in corn 
> syrup is the cause of CCD. 

That seems to be exactly what you are suggesting.

> But I don't think that it is very unreasonable to ask for
> someone to do some testing of corn syrup to see if there is
> any present when we know that it is present in the raw material.

Here's something that may address your concerns, taken from
the MAAREC FAQ on CCD:
http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/FAQ/FAQCCD.pdf

"Feeding: The practice of feeding was common to most of the 
beekeepers interviewed and surveyed who experienced CCD. 
Some feed HFCS, others sucrose however, some did not feed. 
Most beekeepers interviewed did not feed protein but some 
used pre-made protein supplement."

So, some number of the operations hit by CCD apparently 
had fed no HFCS at all.


More to the point, "CCD" presents a very different set of
symptoms from those cited as representative of the problems
in France on sunflowers.

Here is what was said at the time about the situation in France
(cribbed from the Bee-L archives, and numbered by me for easy 
reference):

Date:         Tue, 19 Dec 2000 13:40:16 -0400
From:         Andre Simoneau <[log in to unmask]>
Organization: MAPAQ
Subject:      Re Symptoms of intoxication in bees

"Symptoms [of Imadocloprid poisoning, as seen on sunflowers
in France] are..."

1) "...trembling, rotation on place, curving of the abdomen 
   and a non-stop rubbing of legs together..."

Not reported as a symptom of CCD, but a good match
for what one sees with an overt Imadocloprid kill.

2) "...Finally bees do not come back at the hive resulting in
depopulation of adult bees and a desequilibrium in the
ratio [of] brood/adults..."

This is close enough to call a "match" with CCD symptoms.

3) "...cares to the brood are neglected and it cools off..."

This may or may not be a symptom of CCD, but it makes sense
that without enough bees, brood would be lost due to chilling.

4) "...and the colony dies after a few >>>MONTHS<<< after the
beginning of intoxication."

Nope, not a match at all, as if it took months for a colony to die,
beekeepers would have had time to notice and reoort the trembling
and so on mentioned in point (1). Further, it is known that CCD seems
to depopulate colonies that "looked fine" only a short time ago, so
we know that it is not taking months, we are talking weeks or days.

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