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posted by martyb on Saturday July 01 2017, @05:10AM   Printer-friendly
from the be-nice-to-bees dept.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40382086

The most extensive study to date on neonicotinoid pesticides concludes that they harm both honeybees and wild bees. Researchers said that exposure to the chemicals left honeybee hives less likely to survive over winter, while bumblebees and solitary bees produced fewer queens.

The study spanned 2,000 hectares across the UK, Germany and Hungary and was set up to establish the "real-world" impacts of the pesticides. The results are published in Science [open, DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa1190] [DX]. Neonicotinoids were placed under a temporary ban in Europe in 2013 after concerns about their impact on bees. The European Commission told the BBC that it intends to put forward a new proposal to further restrict the use of the chemicals.


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  • (Score: 2) by Some call me Tim on Saturday July 01 2017, @08:14AM (1 child)

    by Some call me Tim (5819) on Saturday July 01 2017, @08:14AM (#533849)

    A quick search found an article from 2016 but there are probably earlier studies. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/08/30/neonicotinoid-pesticides-bee-decline.aspx [mercola.com]
    Someone should tell the bees that smoking is bad for them.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Saturday July 01 2017, @12:54PM

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Saturday July 01 2017, @12:54PM (#533890) Journal

    Oh yes, and it seems Big Tobacco style propaganda had a lot to do with delaying this admission. Colony Collapse Disorder was a big "mystery" for years, thanks to industry propaganda denying that their pesticide products had anything to do with it, and that there wasn't enough evidence to make that connection. "Doubt is our product."