8 • The Southwest Portland Post
FEATURES
November 2016
approximately 6,000 times more toxic
to bees than DDT, devastates bee
central nervous systems and makes
it impossible for them to relocate
their hives.
Those bees that survive a first
encounter aren’t off the hook. They
remain dazed and inefficient. Neonics
have an addictive quality similar
to that of nicotine for humans, so
surviving bees inevitably return to
treated flowers until their death.
Policy changes must address this
issue by rewarding farmers for
Activists would like the U.S. government to ban a class of insecticides called neonics that
they blame for wiping out the bees that pollinate a majority of our food crops.
(Photo by Cory Barnes, FlickrCC)
Dear EarthTalk: Did anyone ever
figure out what has been killing all
the bees, and is there anything we
can do about it?
– Gerry Sanders, Wichita, KS
By now, we’ve all heard about bees
dying across the U.S. and around the
world.
This isn’t just bad news for
beekeepers: these amazing insects
pollinate upwards of two-thirds of
our food crops—all at no cost to
farmers or consumers.
All we need do is keep them
around, which is proving to be more
and more difficult.
A third of all beehives in the U.S.
have disappeared in the last decade
alone, a situation that has been
dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder.
Experts say several factors are at
play.
First, global warming has changed
weather patterns so profoundly that
bees have been unable to adapt fast
enough. Flowers now bloom so early
or late that they don’t coincide with
the active season of pollinators, so
when bees emerge from hibernation
the flowers they need for food have
already bloomed.
Another threat is habitat loss:
development, urbanization and
monoculture farming are decimating
natural areas bees need to thrive.
And a new generation of parasites
is infiltrating hives and impeding
chemical communication between
bees.
But perhaps the biggest threats
to bees are some of the pesticides
ro u t i n e l y u s e d i n a g r i c u l t u re ,
particularly neonicotinoids.
Commonly referred to as neonics,
this increasingly popular class of
insecticides is meant to eliminate
pests, but has been proven to have an
equally devastating impact on bees.
Today, seeds are engineered with
neonics from the start, so this harmful
chemical is present in the plant,
pollen and nectar. This chemical,
sustainable practices and banning
neonicotinoids for use as pesticides.
Unfortunately, big agri-chemical
companies like Dow Chemical and
Syngenta make huge profits selling
neonics and as such are reluctant to
withdraw them.
The European Union took steps to
ban the use of neonics in member
countries in 2013, although that
ruling is currently under review.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., a few
cities and states have taken at least
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