Is there any evidence linking honey bee deaths and pesticides? Certainly, concerns have been raised about a relative new group of pesticide: neonicotinoids, and another systemic pesticide, Fipronil. I decided to take a look at some of the research myself, in order to provide a simple, easy-read summary of the findings.
You can also download a few studies. See my
Pesticide Bibliography.
There is certainly a lot of research out there, and summarising all of
the research would take me forever, so please note, this is only a small
number of studies, and more research continues to be released.
Instead
of attempting to continually summarise the latest scientific studies, I
also decided to provide links to further information of related
interest.
As I state elsewhere on my site, there are also other issues implicated in bee declines generally, such as habitat loss.
Clicking on any of the following links opens a new window.
Note: Due to some links no longer working, some pages and information will now have to be googled.
Bijensterfte, Oorzaken en Gevolgen
Very comprehensive website summarising many resources in English, Dutch, and German.
IUCN
The World Wide Integrated
Assessment of the Impact of Systemic Pesticides on Biodiversity and Ecosystems
UK Government Inquiry Into Insects And Insects
With regard to the UK Environment Audit Committee, their conclusions and report, drawing on a range of evidence.
Bee Life
Website of the European Beekeeping Coordination. They have a section on the issues of pesticides and also honey bee deaths.
Corporate Europe Observatory
This report looks at industry influence over regulation affecting bees,
with reports that may be downloaded in English, French and Spanish.
Honey Bee Deaths - Do They Matter?
If honey bees are not native to your country, do you need to worry about
honey bee deaths and colony collapse? Take a look here: Honey Bee
Deaths: Why Do They Matter?
NRDC Legal Action
In the USA, the NRDC filed a law suit in order to gain access to
documents concerning the toxicity of pesticides to bees. Read more in
this article: EPA Buzz Kill: Is the Agency Hiding Colony Collapse
Disorder Information?
Agri-chemical companies are both breeding and killing bees
Feature in The Ecologist: Agri-chemical companies are both breeding and killing bees
The Vanishing Of The Bees
Many have heard about this film. Visit the website, and view a film trailor here.
Future Development of the Australian Honey Bee Industry
In this report, Warren Jones, then President of the Crop Pollination
Association Inc (Australia) discusses the crop pollination industry.
There are some interesting observations with regard to neonicotinoids.
Buglife Reports
Copy and paste this link into your browser.
https://www.buglife.org.uk/campaigns-and-our-work/campaigns/neonicotinoid-insecticides
There are a number of reports, including a comprehensive review of many scientific studies written in 2009. Buglife is a respected UK invertebrates conservation charity.
Neonicotinoid Imidacloprid Factsheet
This link opens up the most recent Imidacloprid Fact Sheet revised from the original version in April 2010.
For interest, the original EPA product fact sheet for Imidacloprid included the following warnings:
- Imidacloprid is slightly toxic to fish and moderately toxic to aquatic invertebrates.
- Imidacloprid is highly toxic to bees and should not be applied to vegetation when bees are foraging.
- Imidacloprid has been found to be highly toxic to the house sparrow,
moderately toxic to upland game birds, and slightly to not toxic to
waterfowl.
- Imidacloprid appears to repel birds when used as a seed treatment.
- Imidacloprid is moderately toxic to earthworms.
EPA Clothianidin Scandal
There is much controversy around the
neonicotinoid Clothianidin, believed by some to be implicated in some of
the incidences of honey bee deaths and declines. It transpired that the
EPA had allowed marketing of the product, despite acknowledging that
data provided by Bayer Cropscience to support registration, did not meet
regulatory requirements. Find out more on this site belonging to
PAN North America.
You can also view the the EPA
leaked Clothianidin document.
Beekeeper, Tom Theobald made some comments on the EPA response to this affair.