title: Effects of a neonicotinoid pesticide on honey bee colonies: a response to the field study by Pilling et al. (2013).
abstract: Our assessment of the multi-year overwintering study by Pilling et al. (2013) revealed a number of major deficiencies regarding the study design, the protocol and the evaluation of results. Colonies were exposed for short periods per year to flowering oilseed rape and maize grown from thiamethoxam-coated seeds. Thiamethoxam as the sole active ingredient was used, not a more efficacious commercial product, at seed treatment rates that were lower than recommended as per common agricultural practices. Design and adherence to the protocol were described inadequately making it doubtful whether the study was implemented in a traceable way. No results are given for overwintering losses. Much emphasis is laid on presenting condensed raw data but no statistical evaluation is provided. Therefore, the work presented does not contribute new knowledge to our understanding of the potential impact of thiamethoxam products under field conditions. Furthermore, the authors express concern over the refereeing process of the paper. Publications in refereed journals are likely to be taken seriously in political debates and policy-making, and so must be based on truthful data and methodologies.
authors.affiliation: Am Hauenstein 13, 67157 Wachenheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter Paul
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Hoppe
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Ruprecht-Karls-University, INF324, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Safer
authors.affiliation: Buglife-The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, Bug House Ham Lane, Orton Waterville, Peterborough, PE2 5UU UK.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Amaral-Rogers
authors.affiliation: CNRS Center for Molecular Biophysics CBM, Rue Charles Sadron, 45071 Orleans Cedex 2, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bonmatin
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QG UK.
authors.forename: Dave
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goulson
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biology, Neurobiology, Free University of Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 28/30, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Randolph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Menzel
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER), ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, Bayliss Building, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, 6009 Australia.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baer
keywords: Critical review; Field study; Honeybee; Thiamethoxam