AP Photo / Sang Tan
DCL
Honeybees have been an increasing focus of scientists and news outlets lately, so public awareness has grown of colony collapse disorder and the threats facing today's bee populations. But the cause is still unknown, and the research continues. Are scientists covering all their bases? NRDC explains the missing links in the research that has been done so far.
Pesticides: which ones and how many? There is currently no comprehensive database of the types of pesticides used on bee-pollinated crops in the U.S. or in what quantities they are applied. This information needs to be collected before the pesticide-honeybee relationship can be truly understood (and hopefully improved).
Pesticides: a systemic look. More research is needed to understand exactly how pesticides affect the tissues of the plants they are applied to, as well as how much pesticide is transferred to the pollen and nectar (and thus to the honeybees). And does this change over time, throughout the current and subsequent seasons?
Pesticides, destination: beehives. There is no question that pesticides reach bees even inside their homes, now that numerous studies have documented pesticide residues inside hives. But research is lacking into the primary sources of this contamination, and the speed with which it gets there.
Bee Bread: As with many industrial pollutants today, little is known about the combined effects of different pesticides once they interact in the environment, and how this potentially toxic mix affects bees in particular over time. How the pesticide residues interact once they're inside the beehives is still unknown, and once these residues break down inside the hives, the bees' primary food source, "bee bread," becomes affected as well. Research should be done into just what that means for the bees.
What other problems are going on with the bees? Check out NRDC's blog, which stays on top of the latest issues, including the lack of a sufficient government response to CCD, a call to action to make a buzz for the bees, and bee theft, a trend that has been rising as the price of pollination increases. Yes, there's a black market even for bees.
