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mike_c

(36,281 posts)
7. this suggestion has been around for several years....
Fri Apr 6, 2012, 03:07 PM
Apr 2012

We've discussed it here before, so I'll stick with the short version. The data are quite equivocal about connections between neonicotinoids and CCD, just as the data are somewhat equivocal about whether CCD is a single, discrete phenomenon or whether it's a combination of colony "dwindling disorders" and "disappearing disorders" that have been documented for a century.

But regarding neonicotinoids-- some research has suggested a link between low dose (sub-lethal) neonicotinoid exposure and neurological damage in bees, but that has NEVER been shown to be a factor in CCD. And entomologists have looked hard for that evidence, so the connection is purely circumstantial, at best, and imaginary at worst. There have been a number of other putative causitive agents, including viruses, fungal infections, parasites, and husbandry issues that seem to have better support. In the report you cited, low exposure imidicloprid did kill colonies, but there hasn't been much evidence YET linking it to CCD. I mean, flamethrowers kill honeybee colonies too, but the simple fact that they do doesn't implicate them in CCD.

Personally, I suspect neonicotinoids might indeed be part of the problem, but it's important to remember that no data yet supports any single cause for CCD, and many entomologists are less than convinced that CCD even exists as it has been described in the popular press. Even if neonicotinoids are involved, simply removing them from use might not solve the problem because CCD might be a syndrome with multiple interacting causes rather than a single discrete pathology with a simple, identifiable cause. THAT is currently what most data suggest.

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