The global decline of bees is an issue of great importance. Bees pollinate over one-third of the world’s food crops; thus the rate of die-offs of bee colonies is starting to cause ecological problems which impact the availability of food.
Many scientists are of the opinion that the use of a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids could be responsible for triggering a decline in the population of bees. This view is not shared by all, including policy makers. Here the British government allows for neonicotinoids to be in some counties. Neonicotinoids are a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically related to nicotine, such as thiamethoxam, clothianidin, and imidacloprid. The insecticides are designed to control aphids, where aphids are highly damaging to crops.
The problem with insecticides is that they can kill insects indiscriminately if the insects are affected. Much of the current debate in relation to bees is whether bees are affected and, if so, to what extent? Coming down on the harmful side, a research group from Bern, Switzerland and Wolfville, Canada has shown that this class of chemicals are contributing to bee colony mortality by affecting queen health. Queens were affected in relation to physiology, anatomy, and overall reproductive success.
The new research is published in the journal Scientific Reports, in an article headed “Neonicotinoid pesticides severely affect honey bee queens.”
The pesticides may also be harmful to birds. This is because seeds used to grow crops like corn, sunflowers and canola are routinely coated in neonicotinoids, which then spread through plants as they grow, and the plants are then eaten by birds.
