Another study coming from Spain which decouples colony mortality from crop protection products and implicates off label mite controls as a source of hive contamination In Europe, special attention has been paid to beekeepers, and, based on environmental recommendations, fipronil and other insecticides approved for use as seed treatments have been included in Annex I of the recently amended Directive 91/414/EEC,54 with the aim of promoting studies to monitor the true exposure of bees to fipronil and other insecticides in areas where they are usually employed. This was the main goal of this study, and it should help improve the use of these compounds in the field, given only the low-level presence of this residue in some cases. The present data are in agreement with studies showing *no negative effects of seed-treated crops*. Some pesticide residues were found here, in particular several varroacides and insecticides, but no significant differences were observed between the different sunflower crop samples and those from the sites of wild vegetation. This fact not only implies environmental contamination but also supports the theory that, most of the time, inadequate treatments are the main source of residues that might weaken bee colonies and make them more sensitive to other factors. At this point, it should be noted that treatment of beehives with chlorfenvinphos is not authorised, but it is often used in *home-made formulas to control varroosis* in some European countries. Indeed, this is one of the most common pesticide residues in beebread in Spain. An exposure study to assess the potential impact of fipronil in treated sunflower seeds on honey bee colony losses in Spain Pest Manag Sci 2011; 67: 1320–1331 www.soci.org 2011 Society of Chemical Industry *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm