{"id":15326,"date":"2018-06-09T00:08:52","date_gmt":"2018-06-09T00:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honeybeehaven.org\/?post_type=portfolio_page&p=15326"},"modified":"2023-10-05T17:12:37","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T17:12:37","slug":"pollinators-pesticides","status":"publish","type":"portfolio_page","link":"https:\/\/www.honeybeehaven.org\/resource\/pollinators-pesticides\/","title":{"rendered":"Pollinators & Pesticides"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The science is clear: pesticides are harming pollinators.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>

Since 2006, when the term \u201cColony Collapse Disorder\u201d or CCD was coined in the U.S., commercial beekeepers have reported extraordinary losses averaging 29 – 45% per year. Such losses are unprecedented \u2014 more than double what is considered normal.<\/p>

Wild pollinators like bats and\u00a0<\/span>bumble bees<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>are also facing catastrophic declines, with many of the same factors stressing their populations.<\/p>

Follow the science<\/h4>

The causes behind dramatic bee declines are not a mystery.\u00a0Independent scientists<\/a> now largely concur that bee declines are caused by a combination of several factors, including: increased overall pathogen loads, poor nutrition, habitat loss and pesticide exposure.<\/p>

In recent years, neonicotinoid pesticides \u2014 both alone and in combination with other pesticides \u2014 have emerged as a key component of this disturbing phenomenon, both because of their direct toxicity to bees and their indirect and cascading effects.<\/p>

Scientists know that individual bees can be acutely poisoned while flying through pesticide-contaminated planter dust in a recently planted corn field. More commonly, they are chronically poisoned at sublethal levels by eating and drinking contaminated pollen, nectar and water over time. Bees are then more likely to get sick.<\/p>

Even at low doses, neonics can cause harm to honey bee health<\/a> over time. Impacts include:<\/p>