Are pesticides responsible for killing the honey bees? Our crops are highly dependent on pollinators, predominantly honey bees. What must we do to save them?
It’s well known to those who care about our future food supply that bee populations are dying off dramatically, and certain pollinating butterfly species, especially Monarchs, are becoming endangered.
Neonicotinoids are the most widely used pesticides in the world and are extremely toxic to bees and other pollinators. One of the effects of neonicotinoids is CCD. Sometimes the bees simply get confused and don’t return to their hives, and sometimes they simply die in their hives. It’s known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and it has been rampant in North America. These bug killers have long been used to treat millions of acres of farmland in the US. Neonics, the nicotine-based pesticides, gained popularity because they are powerful killers. Introduced in the 1990s, sales of neonics-coated seeds took off in the US in the mid-2000s, and by 2011, at least a third of soybean acres and nearly 80% of corn acres were treated with these pesticides, according to researchers at Penn State University.
The widespread use of neonics made them suspects in the massive deaths of pollinators such as the honey bee. Nearly 30% of American honey bees died last winter. More than a quarter of the 46 bumblebee species in North America are considered at risk. Another study found that up to 40% of pollinators, including bees and butterflies, are in decline worldwide.
European scientists have discovered that bee populations are experiencing a resurgence after three neonicotinoid insecticides, clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam were banned by the European Commission in 2013. Unfortunately, all three are still used heavily in the USA.
But research showing that they sicken or kill bees and other pollinators means neonics could soon lose their grip in North America as in European Countries.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which mandated new labels for neonics with clearer language on their proper use, temporarily halted the approval of new outdoor neonics while it reviews the risks posed by five types. It expects to publish its assessments and open them up for public comment starting this year.
However, some researchers and farmers say regulatory actions are unwarranted because the problem is the unnecessary use of the pesticides as a preventive measure, and banning them would take away an effective way to protect crops.
Regulatory scrutiny of neonics already has forced major chemical companies to come up with alternatives.
Scientists are still investigating causes for the declines, though they have reasons to believe that pesticides, fungicides, disease and a loss of habitat are all contributing factors. A growing body of studies shows that neonics threaten the health of honey bees and other pollinators. Neonics can dissolve in water and become part of the irrigation runoffs that get into nearby waterways, harming aquatic insects.
Anticipating more regulatory changes, chemical makers have rolled out alternatives to neonics. Dow AgroSciences has developed Isoclast Active, an insecticide that targets many of the same pests as neonics, and Syngenta says it is working on new formulations that could have similar effects. Other companies such as Stockton and BioFence are marketing pest killers made with biological ingredients such as bacteria and plant extracts.
According to the EPA the use of neonics should be a last resort. Farmers have expressed concerns that banning or limiting neonics will lower their yields. So far, evidence from the US and Europe shows these fears may be unfounded. In 2014, a group of Iowa farmers grew soybeans with and without neonics seed coatings and found no significant difference in crop yields. A Penn State study found that using neonics could in fact could decrease yields killing beetles that eat crop-damaging slugs, leading these slugs to proliferate.
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In order to save our pollinators we must take action and act responsibily with our gardening and farming, especially when it comes to the use of pesticides.
“If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live.”
― Maurice Maeterlinck, The Life of the Bee
