https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uom-hno100716.php

Confirms what has been posted on this list that it just is not one
pesticide that is the issue but the whole and that includes fungicides that
we once thought were bee friendly.

As far as queens:

Within this framework, the researchers tracked the death of queen bees,
> which is a life-threatening event for the colony as a whole. In some cases,
> a colony is able to create a new queen, but if those efforts fail the
> entire colony will die. In the current study, colonies with very low
> pesticide contamination in the wax experienced no queen events, while all
> colonies with high pesticide contamination in the wax lost a queen during
> the beekeeping season.

"This is a huge problem for beekeepers currently. Not long ago, a queen
> would typically last up to two years. But now many commercial beekeepers
> replace the queens in at least half of their colonies every spring in the
> hopes that this will prevent premature queen deaths," Traynor explained.
> "Even with such measures, many queens still don't make it through one
> season."
>
Another interesting finding was:

The research team did not find a significant contribution from
> neonicotinoid pesticides. These compounds, derived from nicotine, are
> currently some of the most common pesticides in use globally. Because of
> their ubiquitous use, neonicotinoids have received significant media
> attention for their potential role in honey bee declines.
>
> "We just did not find neonicotinoids in the colonies," vanEngelsdorp
> explained. "There were some trace residues of neonicotinoids in a few
> samples, but not nearly on par with other compounds. However, it's possible
> we did not test the right matrix--we did not test nectar, for example--or
> that the product breaks down faster than others in the collection process
> or that neonicotinoids are simply not very prevalent when crops are
> flowering."
>
So the push to ban the neonics falls under the Law of Unintended
Consequences. Get rid of a pesticide that is minimumly harmful to bees and
humans and replace them with pesticides that are harmful to both. Faith
based science at its worst.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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