Study Downplays Neonicotinoid Pesticide Link to Bee Die-Off

Pesticides are likely to play a role in the mysterious disappearance of honeybees, but a newly published study suggests the most common insecticide is just one of several factors contributing to colony collapse disorder. The study, appearing in PLOS ONE, saw no significant effect when bees were given real-world doses of imidacloprid, a type of neonicotinoid that has become the world's most common insecticide.

A research team led by Galen Dively, emeritus professor of entomology at the University of Maryland, put out patties of pollen laced with imidacloprid to feed experimental honeybee colonies over the course of three years.

The bees didn't suffer negative effects until they were exposed to four times the normal level of the pesticide. The effects became more severe at 20 times the normal exposure levels, the researchers said.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA sluggish Congress punts a long list of tasks until after the election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSIt’s rarely been harder for people to find new jobs

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Some of the medication has worn off’: Witness recalls failed Tennessee execution of Christa Pike

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Couldn’t let all of them die’: Hero Indian pilot attacked midair speaks for first time

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow Trump’s homelessness crackdown became a sweeping retreat from disability rights

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJudge guts noncitizen voting law used in Trump administration’s election push

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump to campaign in at least 17 states ahead of the midterms

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe prosecutor at the center of the Cornell maelstrom

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA sluggish Congress punts a long list of tasks until after the election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSIt’s rarely been harder for people to find new jobs

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Some of the medication has worn off’: Witness recalls failed Tennessee execution of Christa Pike

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Couldn’t let all of them die’: Hero Indian pilot attacked midair speaks for first time

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow Trump’s homelessness crackdown became a sweeping retreat from disability rights

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJudge guts noncitizen voting law used in Trump administration’s election push

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump to campaign in at least 17 states ahead of the midterms

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe prosecutor at the center of the Cornell maelstrom

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

Dively and his colleagues acknowledged that neonics and other pesticides are causing trouble for bees around the world. "It contributes, but there is a bigger picture," Dively said in a news release.

Other factors are thought to include parasites such as Varroa mites and Nocema fungus, a bacterial disease known as foulbrood, viruses, drought and loss of habitat.

• Add to Google

Bee shortage threatens farmland

02:28

IN-DEPTH

• Study: Pesticides Aren't Biggest Factor in Bee Die-Off
• Neonicotinoids Linked to Decline of Birds (and Bees)
• Gallery: Bee Population Faces Serious Decline

SOCIAL

— Alan Boyle

In addition to Dively, the authors of "Assessment of Chronic Sublethal Effects of Imidacloprid on Honey Bee Colony Health" include Michael Embrey, Alaa Kamel, David Hawthorne and Jeffery Pettis.