Pesticides Harming Bees
An article I found on Science Daily reports that scientists at the University of Wurzburg discovered that the pesticide group of neonicotinoids is harmful to bees. In high doses, this pesticide negatively affects the honeybee’s taste, memory, and cognition ability. An alternative pesticide is being discussed and goes by the name Sivanto. It is said to attack sucking insects and can be used on a variety of crops including cocoa and coffee while also being bee-friendly. They also state they don’t know how bees will react with this pesticide when combined with other pesticides. Mixing pesticides are very normal for farmers. In order for this pesticide to become available, this information should be available. Especially when dealing with bees, who are so vital for the maintenance of the ecosystem.
I personally believe that pesticides should not be used, especially if they put bees at risk. Without bees, we would not be alive. So maybe instead of coming up with a different chemical that still might have the potential to harm bees, farmers could just not use chemicals. In addition to the many health risks pesticides cause, they are also a threat to our environment.
According to another article from The Guardian, it’s very likely that the European Food Safety Authority will ban this group of pesticides from all fields across the European Union. Tarazona, head of EFSA’s pesticides unit states data “also identified that high risk to bees comes not from neonicotinoid use on non-flowering crops such as wheat, but from wider contamination of the soil and water which leads to the pesticides appearing in wildflowers or succeeding crops.” Which just further defends my argument to switch our methods to more sustainable farming and cut out chemicals and pesticides altogether.
This got me thinking, “well I’m glad Europe is on top of this but is the U.S.?” According to Reveal, they are not banned in the U.S. like they are in Europe. This group of pesticides is the main suspect in the disappearance of the entire bee colonies. I am unsure why the U.S. still hasn’t banned such a harmful pesticide that is able to wipe out a whole species that is so vital to our ecosystem.
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