I would have wrote more on this a bit earlier,  but the bee hives were 
draped in black crape  A study ‘need not mention CCD by name’ to be 
helpful in this particular area of research.  Although CCD is not named in 
the study, the study may have potential value to research being conducted 
in at least two of the many areas of interest to CCD researchers, which 
are the effects that nutrition and pesticides have on a honeybee colony.  

We know that a chemical used by the coca plant to defend itself from leaf-
eating insects interferes with octopamine transit in insect brains.  And 
from this study, we find that cocaine tends to interfere with octopamine 
in forager bees, causing them to exaggerate their dances (which may have a 
great potential to affect colony nutrition).   We  know that many 
pesticides have a mode of action which targets the octopamine receptors of 
insects.  We know that amatraz -used in beehives, works by that same mode 
of action -targeting the octopamine receptors in insects (or at least 
experts believe that this is the mode of action).  

Where it becomes interesting, is that we know that octopamine is essential 
to the forager bees ability to discern higher quality nutritional sources 
from the lesser quality sources, by directly modulating the dances 
accordingly. Any environmental influence that affects the foragers ability 
to discern the higher nutritional foods from the lesser is very curious 
indeed, and would by necessity, make it a high priority area of research 
in the CCD research efforts, in my opinion.  

I encourage any research directed towards the effects pesticides have on 
octopamine in honeybee foragers, as I feel this should be an area of grave 
concern to all beekeepers.  The dangers are that perhaps more pesticides 
that target the octopamine receptors will be developed.  And another 
concern is that octopamine itself, or chemicals affecting octopamine 
levels in forager honeybees might be used by farmers to trick honeybees to 
visit lesser quality sources, which would be devastating to foraging 
abilities, thereby causing great confusion and nutritional deficit at the 
colony level, which will intern affect the immune system of the honeybee 
and its ability to fight disease.

IMO, it’s not always the answers from research, but the questions that 
arise from research that are the most interesting. 

Best Wishes,
Joe
“We do know allot about honeybees. From all the things that we do know, 
one of the things that we do know, is that we do not know, all there is to 
know about honeybees.”
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles/

*******************************************************
* Search the BEE-L archives at:                       *
* http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?S1=bee-l *
*******************************************************