Bob wrote

> What effect does a toxic soup of five different pesticides mean for bees. 
> Both in lethal and
> sub lethal effects.

> FOUND IN THE CCD SAMPLES;
>
> "Up to 17 pesticides /sample were found,with five the average. All told
> there were 43 different pesticides found ,and at least 14 were 
> systemic.They
> found 17  different pesticides in pollen."

Maybe it is not the fact that the chemicals are present but the combined 
effect of these chemicals on the bees.  As I recall (taking Bill's advice) 
from talks and reading, if there are a couple of chemicals present it is not 
just an accumulative effect.  Say A is 1X lethal to bees and B is 2X lethal 
to bees.  If you have A + B it is not 3X but can be say 6X.  So if there 
were 5 pesticides present imagine what the cumulative effect could be if the 
effect is not just a matter of adding up the effects but a greater factor.

Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA

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