Why Are Bees Dying? Because of Bayer’s Business Model.

In the 1980s, Bayer invented synthetic neonicotinoid compounds that could be applied to the seed of a plant and remain effective for the plant’s entire lifespan. 

By 2004, Bayer had agreements with the top genetically modified seed companies to coat their seeds with massive amounts of neonics. 

By 2007, 80 percent of the corn seed sold by market-leader Pioneer (Monsanto’s rival-cum-partner) was treated with Bayer’s clothianidin-based Poncho. 

By 2008, Colony Collapse Disorder was a worldwide problem.

Today, nearly all corn seeds and about half of soybean seeds are coated in neonics.

Bayer takes advantage of the fact that, in the US, seed treatments aren’t regulated as pesticides. Seed treatments used to be measured in overall neonic use, but the US Geological Survey started leaving them out in 2014.

That’s crazy, because just one corn seed can hold enough neonics to kill a quarter-million bees!

This is what’s causing honey bee colony losses. In the 2022-2023 season, commercial beekeepers saw a mortality rate of 48.2 percent in their hives, almost as bad as the 2020-2021 season with the highest loss rate ever reported (50.8%).

What began with the collapse of bee colonies has become a full-on insect apocalypse that scientists say is “tearing apart the tapestry of life”, devastating bird populations, harming deer and rabbits, impacting human health and threatening the future of foods that rely on pollinators. 

The U.S. agricultural landscape is now 48 times more toxic to bees than it was 25 years ago and crop yields for apples, cherries and blueberries are already being reduced by a lack of pollinators.

New York State made history in 2023 when Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Birds and Bees Protection Act to ban neonicotinoid (neonic) coatings on corn, soybean and wheat seeds.

The National Caucus of Environmental Legislators has stepped up to address the crisis with legislation to restrict the use of bee-killing neonic insecticides . Across the country, bills to ban, restrict or regulate neonics have been introduced in 23 states and passed in Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Most of these laws target home lawn and garden use, but the victory in New York is inspiring action targeted at the larger problem of agricultural use. 

In 2024, Vermont is the state to watch, with lawmakers there considering a ban.

TAKE ACTION: Tell your state legislators to ban neonic seed treatments!

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