We may have most of the answer to the mass bee deaths that scientists and farmers have been puzzling over for the last five years. A previously secret study recently obtained from the EPA shows that a popular insecticide is massively toxic to honey bees. It doesn’t kill bees instantly, making it possible for bees to carry the poison back to the hive, where it can potentially kill most of the bees in the hive. Search for “EPA bee” and you can find many of the details of this new controversy.
The EPA knew of the harm that the insecticide would do to bees, yet kept the scientific study locked up for seven years, keeping state wildlife authorities, scientists, and the beekeeping industry in the dark. Now that the study has come to light, there is reason to hope that this particular insecticide can be pulled off the market before the fruit industry collapses from lack of pollination — and before there are no bees left in the wild anywhere in the United States.
