Authors' response on Hoppe et al. (2015) "Effects of a neonicotinoid pesticide on honey bee colonies: a response to the field study by Pilling et al. (2013)". Environ Sci Eur (2015) 27-28.

The published Commentary by Hoppe et al. (Environ Sci Eur 27-28, 2015) makes a number of strong criticisms of Pilling et al. (PLoS One 8:e77193, 2013), which this authors' response will show are either wrong, inaccurate or misleading.

A four-year field program investigating long-term effects of repeated exposure of honey bee colonies to flowering crops treated with thiamethoxam.

Neonicotinoid residues in nectar and pollen from crop plants have been implicated as one of the potential factors causing the declines of honey bee populations. Median residues of thiamethoxam in pollen collected from honey bees after foraging on flowering seed treated maize were found to be between 1 and 7 µg/kg, median residues of the metabolite CGA322704 (clothianidin) in the pollen were between 1 and 4 µg/kg. In oilseed rape, median residues of thiamethoxam found in pollen collected from bees were between <1 and 3.