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<font size=2>Goulson, D. (2015). "Neonicotinoids impact bumblebee
colony fitness in the field; a reanalysis of the UKFood & Environment
Research Agency 2012 experiment." <u>PeerJ</u> <b>3</b>: e854.<br>
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<dd><x-tab> </x-tab>The
causes of bee declines remain hotly debated, particularly the
contribution of neonicotinoid insecticides. In 2013 the UKFood &
Environment Research Agency made public a study of the impacts of
exposure of bumblebee colonies to neonicotinoids. The study concluded
that there was no clear relationship between colony performance and
pesticide exposure, and the study was subsequently cited by the UK
government in a policy paper in support of their vote against a proposed
moratorium on some uses of neonicotinoids. Here I present a simple
re-analysis of this data set. It demonstrates that these data in fact do
show a negative relationship between both colony growth and queen
production and the levels of neonicotinoids in the food stores collected
by the bees. Indeed, this is the first study describing substantial
negative impacts of neonicotinoids on colony performance of any bee
species with free-flying bees in a field realistic situation where
pesticide exposure is provided only as part of normal farming practices.
It strongly suggests that wild bumblebee colonies in farmland can be
expected to be adversely affected by exposure to neonicotinoids.<br><br>
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