Re: Anybody want to give up their cell phone now? Here's another, less dramatic, possibility:
a.. Pesticides linked to honeybee population decline
Pesticide Action Network Updates Service, February 22, 2007
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." |