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Neonicotinoids hinder bee's resistance to Varroa mites [1]. I believe industry exploited this by testing neonicotinoids in regions without the mites, so the adv

• tptacek 7y ago
  The Varroa epidemic was widely publicized (and, again, apparently eradicated feral honey bees) in the 1980s, before the widespread use of neonicotinoids.
  • deogeo 7y ago
    That does not imply neonicotinoids don't reduce varroa resistance. For example, some bee types may be more resistant to varroa than others, so they were not eradicated in the first epidemics, but now that their resistance is lowered by neonicotinoids, they are being affected as well.
    • tptacek 7y ago
      This is getting pretty close to special pleading. No matter what fact pattern we establish, I concede that there will be some narrative you can generate that will put the weight of the honey bee die-off on neonicotinoids. It's just unlikely to be a true narrative.
      • deogeo 7y ago
        > No matter what fact pattern we establish A hypothesis that matches observed data is not 'special pleading'. And even without said hypothesis, the observed 'fact pattern', as determined, among others, by this paper published in Nature [1], is that neonicotinoids are harmful. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44207-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44207-1