Even as Europe enacts a 2-year precautionary ban on neonicotinoid pesticide use on crops attractive to bees, the pesticide makers are crying foul—claiming that there is insufficient evidence for such supposedly drastic measures.
With each new study, however, such claims are being increasingly tested.
Whether it’s evidence that exposure to seed insecticide dust leads directly to bee deaths, or research showing that sublethal doses of neonicotinoids can disrupt breeding, navigation and other crucial functions in both honeybees and bumblebees alike, there are an increasing number of data points suggesting that we have something to worry about.