June 23rd, 2008 · 7 Comments

Pesticides compromise bee health is by lowering their resistance to parasites and disease, according to the French, German and other studies. In particular, neonicotinoids harm bees’ ability to fight parasites, especially fungal parasites, which are now being linked with mass bee die-offs.

“This is fairly predictable, based on what was found of the bee’s genetic makeup when the genome was decoded,” Cummins says, speaking by phone from Ontario, “and it became apparent the bee is a very exquisite animal but one which is not geared to exposure to pesticides. The immune system, as well, is not really highly geared toward defense against invaders, and so, what happens with pesticides is it clearly makes the animal more susceptible to attack by parasites, such as, in particular, the fungal parasites. Fungal parasites are really the bee’s main predator in nature.”

Cummins says that in addition to a ban – which the EPA could “easily do” – farmers (or states or federal governments) should create bee refuges in the form of organic farms. Long-term, he believes the majority of food production should go organic, though he realizes that’s not quite so easily done.

“I think the best thing to do now would be to set up organic farms, refuges for the bees, that basically would provide a last stand for the bees, a place where they could survive. Given the current losses this year, in addition to last year, the bee is certainly not sustainable.”

Pesticides are only one element contributing to CCD, Cummins admits, but it’s now become more widely accepted within the scientific community that they do certainly play a role.

“In fact, there are multiple of causes, and instead of wringing our hands and waiting for the final answers – which may not be forthcoming – we should act.” (Until recently, the link between insecticides, fungal parasites and CCD haven’t been broadly recognized.)

The good news is that seems to be changing – slowly.

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