"Monsanto Acquires Targeted-Pest Control Technology Start-UP"

[Javaman]

13. Multiple studies have shown a link...

here...

Read through the entire article which sites multiple studies and the effects of pesticides upon bees...

http://www.bayer-kills-bees.com/

(from the article - with footnotes included)

5. These neonicotinoid substances and metabolites may act synergistically with fungicides in complex combinations.

Research at a North Carolina University laboratory found certain neonicotinoids when combined with specific fungicides acted synergistically to increase the toxicity to honey bees over 1,000 times (Iwasa et al., 2004). This presents a concern for honey bees because both neonicotinoids and fungicides (Terraguard and Procure) are used rather widely.

Due to the archaic science and theories being applied at the agency, the EPA Office of Pesticides does not even address or investigate the possible biological effects including sublethal effects of combinations of pesticides, but synergistic pesticidal effects can no longer be ignored when complex multiple combinations of toxic pesticides are being measured in bees wax and pollen without EPA having a clue as to what adverse effects they may be causing.


3. These neonicotinoid substances and metabolites have greater neurotoxic effects on honey bees due to genomic vulnerability.

Research on mapping the honey bee genome discovered that its nicotinic acetylcholine receptor possesses eleven vulnerable subunit members in its nervous system (Jones et al., 2006). The honey bee possesses more nicotinic acetylcholine receptors than either the mosquito or the fruit fly, research has found. In short, the problem for honey bees is they possess more vulnerable acetylcholine receptors to be blocked by pesticides like imidacloprid compared to other insects, and from a theoretical perspective, the honey bee is made more sensitive to pesticides like imidacloprid and similar neurotoxins.

French scientists led by Dr. Marc Colin (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, INRA) in 1998 videotaped one set of their experiments on bees exposed to low ppb concentrations of imidacloprid to demonstrate that the honey bees became too groggy and intoxicated effectively impairing their short-term memory in smell and theoretically blocking normal foraging behavior. After only a few days, the honey bees exposed to low ppb levels of imidacloprid stopped feeding and their numbers sharply dropped compared to the control groups. Dr. Colin compared videotapes of exposed bees and unaffected control bees to dramatically demonstrate the powerful sublethal effects of imidacloprid. If the bees stopped their feeding behavior, they will quickly die.