Scientists Discovered Another Reason Why Massive Amounts of Bees are Dying
The massive honeybee die-off should have a lot of folks concerned. Chemicals manufactured by Bayer Corporation have contributed to CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder).
The bees have been poisoned with a known insect neurotoxin called Clothianidin, a pesticide manufactured by Bayer, which has been clearly linked to massive bee die offs in Germany and France. Now there’s a new threat to the bees besides the deadly chemical Clothianidin.
Scientists have recently discovered another cause for the massive bee deaths that have been taking place across the world. It’s not good either, turns out that something once thought harmless to bees is not the case. The latest cause being contributed to the bee deaths is fungicides.
Honey bees are one of the most important pollinators in nature and they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Other bees that are just as important to the pollination process include Bumble Bees and Mason Bees.
The website PLOS, a scientific website concerning scholarly research, published an article on July 24. It details their findings concerning the latest contributor to the bee deaths. It doesn’t look good either.
They stated: “Recent research suggests that honey bee diets, parasites, diseases and pesticides interact to have stronger negative effects on managed honey bee colonies. Nutritional limitation and exposure to sub-lethal doses of pesticides in particular, may alter susceptibility to or severity of diverse bee parasites and pathogens.”
Researchers behind a study from PLOS, Jeffery S. Pettis, Elinor M. Lichtenberg, Michael Andree, Jennie Stitzinger, Robyn Rose, Dennis vanEngelsdorp reported they collected pollen from bee-hives on the east coast. The bees in those hives gathered pollen from various crops including cranberry and watermelon.
They fed the pollen to healthy bees, and the result is a cause for grave concern. There was a significant drop in the bee’s ability to ward off a gut parasite responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder.
The pollen they ate contained a deadly mixture of 21 different chemicals. The bees that ate pollen containing fungicides were three times more susceptible to infection by the parasite. It turns out it’s not one specific chemical responsible for the bee deaths but a multitude of them.
Neonicotinoid pesticides is the main chemical at the heart of the problem. It damages the brains of bees, causing an epileptic type activity to occur in the bees.
Mankind’s blatant disregard when using chemicals could result in a potential catastrophe for the entire world. The bee population in the U.S. is at a dangerously low rate, it takes 60 percent of our nation’s bees just to pollinate one California crop, almonds.
So the next time you want to spray Roundup to kill your weeds think twice and use something more natural that will not harm the earth. Give careful thought before you throw that empty food wrapper out your car window. We will be held accountable for the things we have done and taking care of the earth is no different.
Source: http://www.plosone.org/