In the past several months, three separate studies have added substantial weight to the growing body of evidence showing that widespread use of nicotine-based insecticides called neonicotinoids is linked to Colony Collapse Disorder. One study found that colonies exposed to neonicotinoids produced 85 percent fewer queens, meaning the creation of 85 percent fewer hives. United States Department of Agriculture bee expert Jeffery Pettis rightly calls the findings “alarming.”
Bayer markets its neonicotinoids widely to growers of corn, soy, wheat, cotton, sorghum, peanuts, and other crops. Research by the Pesticide Action Network of North America showed that a minimum of 142 million acres were planted in neonic-treated seeds in the year 2010. 142 million acres is equivalent to the size of California and Oregon combined! And that number is likely to be even higher this year. On top of that, neonics are widely used in home garden and landscaping products.
EPA registration of Bayer's neonicotinoids was primarily based on a study funded by the Bayer Corporation itself, and that study has been discredited by the EPA's own scientists.
The EPA must act now to ban the sale of Bayer's neoniconitoid products. When the bees suffer, we all suffer. We must do everything possible to protect this essential pollinator. Our bees, and the plants that depend on them, can't wait.
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