The explanatory narrative began to change in 2006, when new waves of bee deaths were reported around the world.

FORBES: Science Collapse Disorder -- The Real Story Behind Neonics And Mass Bee Deaths

It could, they suggest, offer an insight into problems like Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious cause of mass bee deaths globally.

BBC: Honey bees' genetic code unlocked

The main suspects for causing bee deaths are viruses and other pests acting in tandem, especially the aptly named Varroa destructor mite.

FORBES: Bee-ing Smart: Regulators Must Distinguish Activists' Bad Dreams From Good Evidence

But an age-old problem in the bee world a periodic and unpredictable dramatic rise in bee deaths in one region or another reemerged in 2004.

FORBES: Science Collapse Disorder -- The Real Story Behind Neonics And Mass Bee Deaths

She and her colleagues measured honey production, bee deaths, weight gain of colonies while foraging on canola, and insecticide residue on bees and in pollen, nectar, beeswax and honey.

FORBES: Bee-ing Smart: Regulators Must Distinguish Activists' Bad Dreams From Good Evidence

The problem with many of the studies that supposedly establish a link between neonicotinoids and bee deaths is that they fail to simulate the exposure levels bees are likely to encounter in the wild.

FORBES: Bee-ing Smart: Regulators Must Distinguish Activists' Bad Dreams From Good Evidence

The science based view of this issue took a sharp turn in January when the European Food Safety Authority issued three studies raising questions about the potential role of neonics in this latest wave of bee deaths.

FORBES: Science Collapse Disorder -- The Real Story Behind Neonics And Mass Bee Deaths