Scientific Journal Article Morena Bekavac In situ replication of honey bee colony collapse disorder The There is a worldwide

phenomenon since 2006 known as the colony collapse disorder, ( !" which has led scientists to investi#ate the role of imidacloprid which is a neonicotinoid insecticides$ ! is the sudden disappearance of honey bees specifically the worker bees from hives that have enou#h food$ The disappearance of bees is dan#erous to us due to bee pollination bein# responsible for more than %& billion in increased crop value, which is at least '0( of the food crops we rely on for sustenance, without bees pollinatin# many crops would not produce fruit which means no more food for humans$ The in situ study was made to replicate ! based on a plausible hypothesis in which the occurrence of ! since 2006 was resulted from the presence of imidacloprid which is one of the neonicotinoid insecticides, in hi#h fructose corn syrup which was fed to honey bees as a alternative to sucrose based foods$ )cientists used a replicated split*plot desi#n consistin# of + independent apiary sites$ ,ach apiary consisted of + different imidacloprid*treated hives and a control hive$ The dosa#es used in this study were determined to reflect imidacloprid residue levels reported in the environment previously$ -ll hives had no diseases or symptoms of parasitism durin# the %.*week dosin# re#ime, they were alive %2 weeks afterward$ -lthou#h %& of %6 imidacloprid treated hives were dead across + apiaries, 2. weeks post imidacloprid dosin#$ !ead hives were empty e/cept for stores of food and some pollen left, a resemblance of !$ The information from this in situ study provids convincin# evidence that e/poure to sub*lethal levels of imidacloprid in 0i#h 1ructose orn )yrup(01 )" causes honey bees to have symptoms consistent to ! 2. weeks after imidacloprid dosin#$ The survival of the control hives mana#ed alon#side with the pesticide treated hives a#rees with the conclusion$ The study observed decreased the mortality in the honey bees that was caused by the imidacloprid in 0i#h fructose corn syrup (01 )" is a plausible cause for the !$

Brand new hive materials and new honey bee packa#es were used to reduce and possibility of an unknown pesticide residue or diseases present in e/istin# honey bee colonies, rplicated split*plot desi#n consitsin# of + sites with & honey bee hives on each site was used$ The study sites were at least %2km away from each other so each study site was considered an independent apiary, which each consisted of + different imidacloprid treated hives and a control hive which was treated identically to the treated hives e/cept no imidacloprid was added to the hi#h fructose corn syrup$The dosin# re#ime was done after each of the 20 hives had at least %& frames of bees and all 20 frames of comb were drawn$ The dosa#es used in this study were determined to reflect imidacloprid residue levels reported previously

The pattern of honey bee hive loss durin# the winter months in this study resemble the reported symptoms of !$ The loss of %& of %6 imidacloprid treated hives across + apiaries occurred over a period of %0 weeks followin# the first hive death$ !ead hives were empty e/cept for stores of food and some pollen left on the frames$The dead hives, especially for those treated with hi#her dosa#es of imidacloprid, was followed by the observation of dead bees scattered on snow in front of the hives, with reduces small clusters remainin# the week before death$ In this in situ study provides convincin# evidence that e/posure to lethal levels of imidacloprid causes honey bees to e/hibit symptoms consistent to ! months after imidacloprid e/posure$