Harvard Study Links Neonicotinoid Pesticide To Colony Collapse Disorder

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday May 11, 2014 @03:09PM from the won't-somebody-please-think-of-the-bees? dept.

walterbyrd (182728) writes in with news about a new study from Harvard School of Public Health that links two widely used neonicotinoids to Colony Collapse Disorder. "Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), or the widespread population loss of honeybees, may have been caused by the use of neonicotinoids, according to a new study out of Harvard University. Neonicotinoids are a class of pesticides, chemically similar to nicotine. They were first developed for agricultural use in the 1980's by petroleum giant Shell. The pesticides were refined by Bayer the following decade. Two of these chemicals are now believed to be the cause of CCD, according to the new study from the School of Public Health at the university. This study replicated their own research performed in 2012."

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Re:Nice, but not everywhere neonicotinoids are use by sjames · 2014-05-11 20:58 · Score: 4, Interesting

The studies showed that the mechanism of action seems to be that the neonicotinoids render the hives more susceptible to common parasites. So if those parasites are less common somewhere, CCD will also be less common even in the presence of neonicotinoids.
That still suggests that wherever the parasites are common, the neonicotinoids should not be used.