# Neonics appears to reduce live bee sperm- Study



## orthoman (Feb 23, 2013)

How about posting the link to the Plos study.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

From the report...

"Neonicotinoid-maker Bayer Crop Science spokesman Jeffrey Donald said the firm's scientists will review the study, but in general "artificial exposure to pesticides under lab conditions is not reflective of real-world experience."

I agree.

also from the report...

"Another team of outside researchers, Jerry Bromenshenk and Colin Henderson at the University of Montana, praised the Straub study as careful and significant. But they said in an email there are still unanswered questions on how much this matters."

I don't have the numbers, but the queen mates with multiple drones, but only ends up keeping a portion of the sperm she originally gets impregnated with. I also wonder just how a drone produces dead sperm, and if it is transferred to the queen during mating? 

This article does not give particulars of the study, such as how much neonicotinoid substance the pollen used in the study was given as PPM? and pollen collected in the field in normal agriculture settings, how much neonicotinoid as a ppm is there? 

It may be a great study giving us more answers, but may not be conclusive at all in the problems with bee survivability that many are experiencing. It may be giving answers, but more questions as well. I agree with Jerry Bromenshenk and Colin Henderson that there are still unanswered questions on how much the findings in this study matters.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

PLOS study, March 18, 2015

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0118748


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## johno (Dec 4, 2011)

In most of the studies I have seen lately the hives were fed sub lethal doses of the neonic over a period of time with poor results for the health of the hives. To counter this I will not feed sub lethal doses of the neonics to my hives and this seems to work out just fine as I am not experiencing any problems with my bees. Now if I could just stop my wife from feeding me sub lethal doses of arsenic maybe my health would improve.
Johno


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