Title: No, we aren't losing all of our honeybees. And neonicotinoid seed coatings aren't driving their health problems—here’s why | Genetic Literacy Project
Headings: No, we aren’t losing all of our honeybees. And neonicotinoid seed coatings aren’t driving their health problems—here’s why
No, we aren’t losing all of our honeybees. And neonicotinoid seed coatings aren’t driving their health problems—here’s why
Myth of Honeybee decline
Colony Collapse Disorder is not the same as bee losses linked to diseases and chemicals
High prices are the solution to their own problem
USDA bee researcher: “If there’s a top ten list of what’s killing honey bee colonies, I’d put pesticides at number 11.”
Jon Entine is the founder and executive director of the GLP. Follow him on Twitter @jonentine
A version of this article originally ran on the GLP on Apr 17, 2018.
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Content: First of all, honeybees aren’t the cute symbol of the natural world that environmentalists make them out to be. They’re actually a managed species, like livestock, bred by beekeepers to make honey and shipped around the country to pollinate crops like almonds. They’re also an exotic species in North America, brought over from Europe by early colonists. [ Note: European honeybees originated in Asia 300,000 years ago .] ADVERTISEMENT
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It’s not that honeybees are not facing health challenges — they are. Just not to the degree that environmental groups and the media suggest and not for the reasons popularized by protestors in yellow bee suits. Most of the problems, say entomologists and bee keepers, are linked to bee keeping practices, Varroa destructor mites (which vector roughly a dozen different diseases into beehives), and the widely prevalent gut fungus Nosema ceranae. Seed pesticides, most experts say, play a minor if measurable role, with the miticides used to control the parasites presenting far more of a health threat than neonics. These problems have led to higher-than-average over winter losses.