Winter 2010 Honey Bee Colony Losses Averaged 30% in U. S.
Linda Moulton Howe
“More than a billion pounds of pesticides are used annually in the United States,
and the EPA has registered more than 18,000 different pesticides for use.
Extensive scientific studies show widespread and pervasive pesticide contamination
in groundwater, drinking water and wildlife habitats throughout the U. S.”
- Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA)
Western honey bee, or European honey bee
(Apis mellifera), gathering pollen from purple aster.
June 9, 2011 Oakdale, California and Eagle Bend, Minnesota - Over the past several months, various media have headlined different answers to the serious decline of honey bees since the winter of 2006 in a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. Some proposed answers have included: “Nicotine-based pesticides such as imidacloprid and clothianidin are killing bee larva and foraging adults.” “Cell phone microwave radiation interferes with bee navigation.” “It's Nosema ceranae, the unicellular parasite.” “It's Varroa mites.” “It's the Israel acute paralysis virus.” “It's new viruses, fungi, climate change.”
One fact is certain - honey bee immune systems are being weakened so much they aren't fighting off the growing list of attackers. Likely culprits in that immune weakening are layers and layers of insecticides - especially the nicotine-based insecticides that interfere with nerve signals.
Apiary experts tend to say, “It's all of the above, but the nicotine-based pesticides are killing pollinators without any effort by EPA to protect honey bees.”
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http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1864&category=Environment
June 2011