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: 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
No, we aren’t losing all of our honeybees. And neonicotinoid seed coatings aren’t driving their health problems—here’s why
Jon Entine | March 20, 2020
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This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation. I n recent years, articles on honeybees have often started with a sentence like this: “ Populations of honeybees have crashed in recent years, and many researchers have pointed the blame at a class of widely used insecticides called neonicotinoids.” In fact, that’s how an otherwise excellent 2018 article in The Scientist summarizing a USDA study on honeybees’ molecular responses to neonicotinoids began. The narrative that honeybees, which are not originally native to North America, face mortal danger—has been advanced by environmental groups for years and echoed in the media, in casual blogs and the mainstream science sites alike. This twist on the news is so pervasive that it’s often accepted without question: bee populations are rapidly declining as a result of pesticide use, particularly the use of neonics, and the crucial pollinators could be edging towards extinction, plunging our entire food system into chaos. “Declining honeybee population could spell trouble for some crops,” blared a headline on Fox News in 2017.