Slashdot Mirror
Three-Quarters of All Honey On Earth Has Pesticides In It (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: About three quarters of all honey worldwide is contaminated with pesticides known to harm bees, according to a new study. Though the pesticide levels were below the limit deemed safe for human consumption, there was still enough insecticide in there to harm pollinators. The finding suggests that, as one of the study authors said, "there's almost no safe place for a bee to exist." Scientists analyzed 198 honey samples from all continents, except Antarctica, for five types of pesticides called neonicotinoids, which are known to harm bees. They found at least one of the five compounds in most samples, with the highest contamination in North America, Asia, and Europe. The results are published today in the journal Science.
To get a better sense of just how widespread neonic contamination is, Mitchell and his colleagues analyzed 198 worldwide honey samples collected as a citizen science project between 2012 and 2016. They found that 75 percent of honey contained at least one of the five tested neonics, and 45 percent of samples had two or more. Honey from North America, Asia, and Europe was most contaminated, while the lowest contamination was in South America. Neonic concentrations were relatively low: on average, 1.8 nanograms per gram in contaminated honey -- below the limits set as safe for people by the EU.
To get a better sense of just how widespread neonic contamination is, Mitchell and his colleagues analyzed 198 worldwide honey samples collected as a citizen science project between 2012 and 2016. They found that 75 percent of honey contained at least one of the five tested neonics, and 45 percent of samples had two or more. Honey from North America, Asia, and Europe was most contaminated, while the lowest contamination was in South America. Neonic concentrations were relatively low: on average, 1.8 nanograms per gram in contaminated honey -- below the limits set as safe for people by the EU.
Do you have an alternative plan to protect bees from pests?
The purpose of the pesticides is not to "protect bees". It is to protect the crops from harmful insects. The bees are collateral damage.
Given that the bees didn't die and they were able to carry out their primary mission (bring food back to the hive) I'd say their exposure was below acceptable limits.
This is exactly the way we kill ants. You don't want to kill the single ant, but to eradicate the hive. Sometimes a small dose delivered continously is more deadly than a high dose. It won't kill the workers, but it can accumulate in the queen (the only long living bee of the hive and quite essential for the surviving of the hive) and can also bring down the reproduction of new worker bees by slowing larva development or outright killing them.
If you want to bring down a nest or hive you don't kill the workers. You target the reproduction.