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Pesticides Linked to Honeybee Population Decline
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Pesticides linked to honeybee population decline
Pesticide Action Network Updates Service, February 22, 2007
Straight to the Source
Bees are critically important to farm ecosystems because of their role
as pollinators that allow crops to produce edible fruit and seed.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a phenomenon described by beekeepers,
researchers and government officials when entire hive populations seem
to disappear, apparently dying out. A CCD working group
was recently formed with researchers from the University of Montana,
The Pennsylvania State University, the USDA/ARS, the Florida Department
of Agriculture, and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to
analyze the problem. Their preliminary report indicates how pesticides
may be a factor, specifically neonicotinioid pesticides, including
imidacloprid, clothianiden and thiamethoxam. According to the CCD report,
"If bees are eating fresh or stored pollen contaminated with these
chemicals at low levels, they may not cause mortality but may impact
the bee's ability to learn or make memories. If this is the case, young
bees leaving the hive to make orientation flights may not be able to
learn the location of the hive and may not be returning causing the
colonies to dwindle and eventually die."
Porterville Recorder
reporter Sarah Elizabeth Villicana interviewed a Terra Bella,
California beekeeper, Eric Lane, who suspects harm to the bees is
linked to imidacloprid,
made by Bayer CropScience. "It is my personal belief that this chemical
is responsible for thinning the bee population," Lane said. "It was
used it France and killed 70 percent of the bee population in France."
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