Scientists loved and loathed by an agrochemical giant

Exeter, England

THE bee findings were not what Syngenta expected to hear.

The pesticide giant had commissioned James Cresswell, a specialist in flowers and bees at the University of Exeter in England, to study why many of the world's bee colonies were dying. Companies such as Syngenta have long blamed a tiny bug called a varroa mite, rather than their own pesticides, for the bee decline.

Dr Cresswell has also been sceptical of concerns raised about those pesticides, and even the extent of bee deaths. But his initial research in 2012 undercut concerns about varroa mites as well. So the company, based in Switzerland, began pressing him to consider new data and a different approach.

Looking back at his interactions with the company, Dr Cresswell said in a recent interview that "Syngenta clearly has got an agenda". He summed up that agenda: "It's the v…