Bees are an integral part of our ecosystem as well as a critical agricultural resource that help produce $16 billion worth of crops in the United States each year. The recent unexplained mass disappearance of honey bees, called colony collapse disorder, poses a significant threat to honey bees, beekeepers, farmers and our food supply. Most bee experts believe bees could be falling sick due to a combination of factors, including pesticide exposure, invasive parasitic mites, an inadequate food supply and a new virus that targets bees’ immune systems.
Congress recognizes colony collapse disorder as a threat and grants the Department of Agriculture funds yearly to study the problem. Research on the issues regarding bee health presented to Congress in 2015 can be read here. The Pollinator Health Task Force established by President Obama’s Administration issued their report “National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators” in May of 2015.
According to Wikipedia: “A 2013 peer-reviewed literature review concluded neonicotinoids in the amounts typically used harm bees and safer alternatives are urgently needed.[57] At the same time, other sources suggest the evidence is not conclusive, and that clarity regarding the facts is hampered by the role played by various issue advocates and lobby groups.[58]”
Neonicotinoids or Neonics are the most heavily used class of insecticides in the United States, applied to an estimated 150 million acres each year. Organizations such as the NRDC (Natural Resource Defense Council) are urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set strong, science-based limits on the use of these chemicals on farms across the country, but the agency’s review process has stalled. Stalled, despite the fact that 42 percent of U.S. bee colonies collapsed in 2015 – well above the average 31 percent that have been dying each winter for nearly a decade since 2006 when Colony Collapse Disorder was first identified.
You can do your part by adding your voice. The bees and the planet depend on it!
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