Thanks Rick for the info.
Yesterday, Dewey Caron responded to Claire's inquiry about the matter and told us: "that the ODA has a pesticide lab...in Portland. ...They could only look at the situation once a formal incident report was filed. That is pretty complex procedure. They then make an independent analysis of the incident and only if they deem it a possible pesticide incident will they then come collect a sample - they would not take a sample collected from anyone else. They themselves collect the sample, before they can get involved. It too quickly pits beekeeper against grower/pesticide applicator and that can escalate into finger pointing and lead to unintended consequences for one or both beekeeper and grower. I understand they investigate a "few" incidences each year but few then become a "incident".
That said, I doubt if my sample would be acceptable to any lab. I vacuumed up the bees from my dead hive into a small shop vac that I have used for the past three years collecting dead bees in and around my hives and hive shop where I keep all my bee keeping stuff. I then dumped the contents onto a white garbage bag for picture purposes and then tossed the whole mess into the garbage bin. That was on Thursday evening. Late Saturday, at Claire's request I scooped up a couple of cups and put them into a Ziploc bag and put them into my freezer. By that time, things were getting smelly. I am sure my sample is contaminated to say the least, and doubt any lab would accept the sample.
For members that are interested in laboratory diagnostic services related to acute colony die offs. Cornell University offers one of the few that are related to pesticide exposures. They would be outstanding that would not only provide the service of measuring pesticide levels in bees or bee products, but would also be good consultants about interpreting your results. Be aware that as a non resident of New York state, there may be additional fees over what is listed for New York residents. The USDA labs are hard to beat with services related only to bee pathogens (not viruses necessarily nor toxins) to investigate colony collapses. Many of their diagnostic services are free to US residents.
The laboratory at Cornell University seems to offer a nice service concerning toxin levels in honey, comb and/or bees. The cost of a multi pesticide panel is a real bargain of $160. They would also offer some consulting services that would be important for;
1. Discuss prior to sending samples to find out what samples (bees or bee products) would be most appropriate and methods of sending, such as overnight, on ice, frozen, etc.
2. Help one interpret results when it comes to your local apiary or environment.
https://blogs.cornell.edu/ccecf/the-facility/
Another great service is the USDA lab in Beltsville, MD. They however do all of the disease pathogens but no viruses nor pesticides.
USDA , Belleville, MD laboratory
Bee Diagnostics
Services for pathogens but does not provide for virus identification nor pesticide presence.
USDA.GOV
For further general readings on honeybee toxicology see attachments:
For more specific effects of toxins on honeybee health, search within Google Scholar.