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<font size=2>Lu, C., et al. (2014). " Sub-lethal exposure to
neonicotinoids impaired honey bees winterization before proceeding to
colony collapse disorder." <u>Bulletin of Insectology</u>
<b>67</b>(1): 125-130.<br>
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<dd><x-tab> </x-tab>Honey
bee (Apis mellifera L.) colony collapse disorder (CCD) that appeared in
2005/2006 still lingers in many parts of the world. Here we show that
sub-lethal exposure of neonicotinoids, imidacloprid or clothianidin,
affected the winterization of healthy colonies that subsequently leads to
CCD. We found honey bees in both control and neonicotinoid-treated groups
progressed almost identically through the summer and fall seasons and
observed no acute morbidity or mortality in either group until the end of
winter. Bees from six of the twelve neonicotinoid-treated colonies had
abandoned their hives, and were eventually dead with symptoms resembling
CCD. However, we observed a complete opposite phenomenon in the control
colonies in which instead of abandonment, they were re-populated quickly
with new emerging bees. Only one of the six control colonies was lost due
to Nosema like infection. The observations from this study may help to
elucidate the mechanisms by which sub-lethal neonicotinoids exposure
caused honey bees to vanish from their hives.<br><br>
<br>
</dl>And a newspaper article about the research: <br><br>
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/09/honeybees-dying-insecticide-harvard-study" eudora="autourl">
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/09/honeybees-dying-insecticide-harvard-study</a>
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