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BEE Protective
Pollinators and Pesticides

Protecting honey bees and wild pollinators from pesticides

News and Alerts

Background

Heated debate in the U.S. has surrounded the causes of so-called “Colony Collapse Disorder,” or CCD. Troublingly, each year since 2006, commercial beekeepers have reported annual losses twice what is considered normal, and this year may be the worst yet, with some beekeepers experiencing losses as high as 90%.

 A recent study released by the UNEP indicates that of the 100 crops that provide 90 percent of the world's food, over 70 are pollinated by bees.  In North America, honey bees supplied by migratory beekeepers pollinate nearly 95 kinds of fruits such as almonds, avocados, cranberries and apples, leading to an economic contribution of $15 billion.

The causes of CCD have recently shifted to focus on the toxic impact of pesticides. Both seeds and agricultural commodities undergo intensive foliar and systemic applications of pesticides which translocate through plants, even to the pollen and nectar. Recent studies have indicated that exposure to minute amount of neurotoxic pesticides like neonicotinoids (e.g. imidacloprid and clothianidin) severely impair the immune systems of bees making them more susceptible to pathogens, and disrupts foraging, navigating and learning behavior.

We urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to make strong regulatory changes that protect bees, pollinators, from toxic industrial pesticides. The time to act is now! Learn what you can do.

Colony Collapse Disorder

The crisis of colony collapse disorder (CCD) in the honeybee population is an increasingly widespread phenomenon of bees disappearing or abandoning their hives. There are, of course, numerous theories that involve pesticides, viruses, and pathogens. Bayer CropScience, the manufacturer of one of the implicated pesticides, imidacloprid and clothianidin, dismisses the pesticide connection. But in light of the precautionary principal, the European Commission recently voted to ban the use of these pesticides for 2 years on flowering crops.

The National Union of French Beekeepers first brought the problem to international attention and forced their government to restrict these pesticides. Unfortunately, the U.S. lags behind. The pesticide link to bee poisonings is not new, and the lack of an adequate regulatory response is unacceptable.

Problems Escalate Under Risk Assessment Standards

The disappearance of the bees alerts us to a fundamental and systemic flaw in our approach to the use of toxic chemicals –and highlights the question as to whether our risk assessment approach to regulation will continue to put our environment at risk without a meaningful change of course. While admittedly uncertain and filled with deficiencies, risk assessments establish thresholds of 'acceptable' chemical contamination of the ecosystem, despite the availability of alternative practices and products.

Resources

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