New Doubts Raised About Potential Bee-Killing Pesticide

A federal entomologist has become the latest researcher to voice doubts about neonicotinoids, a controversial new type of pesticide that may be linked to the collapse of honeybee populations in the United States. The Independent reports that in a documentary screened in Europe but not yet broadcast stateside, USDA bee specialist Jeffrey Pettis describes exposing two groups of bees, one dosed with a neonicotinoids called imidacloprid, to Nosema, a common honeybee disease. Pesticide-dosed bees proved especially vulnerable to infection

USDA Finds Bayer Pesticide Harmful to Honeybees

Remember the case of the leaked document showing that the EPA’s own scientists are concerned about a pesticide it approved that might harm fragile honeybee populations? Well, it turns that the EPA isn’t the only government agency whose researchers are worried about neonicotinoids pesticides. USDA researchers also have good evidence that these nicotine-derived chemicals, marketed by German agrichemical giant Bayer, could be playing a part in Colony Collapse Disorder—the mysterious massive honeybee die-offs that United States and Europe have been experiencing in recent years. So why on earth are they still in use on million of acres of American farmland?

Not just in America but across the whole of Europe, some-thing must be done quickly otherwise it will be too late.