Bee Damned

Trey Smith

A study published in the current issue of the German science journal Naturwissenschaften, reveals how bees given minute doses of the widely used pesticide imidacloprid became more vulnerable to infections from a deadly parasite, nosema.

Bee experts described this as clear evidence of the role pesticides play in the plight of bees. Although research into the furry insects may seem like a very academic exercise, bees are vital to human survival. More than 70 of the 100 crops that provide 90 per cent of the world's food are pollinated by bees, and Albert Einstein once predicted that if bees died out, "man would have no more than four years to live."

The study, led by Dr Jeffrey Pettis, the head of the US Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory, says: "We believe that subtle interactions between pesticides and pathogens, such as demonstrated here, could be a major contributor to increased mortality of honey bee colonies worldwide."
~ from Pesticides Blamed for Bee Decline by Jonathan Owen ~

Do you find the conclusions of this report shocking? I certainly don't. There is so much about life -- of ourselves and all the other life forms on Planet Earth -- that we don't have a good grasp on. But when it comes to the prospects of making an easy buck, why allow ignorance to be a hurdle?

Isn't it better to go charging off into the unknown and, if problems arise, to deal with them later? Possibly generations after the fact?

Isn't that what good parents teach their children?

(Not!!)