WHY ARE BEES DYING OFF? - BEE COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER!!! Story at-a-glance Bees have been dying off around the world for a decade now from a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. A third of the U.S. food supply depends on the honeybees This year, the US experienced the highest losses of honeybee populations so far, with most of the nation’s beekeepers losing anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of their bee population Many of the 6,000 almond orchard owners in California could not find enough bees to pollinate their almond trees, at any price, this year The collapse of bee colonies is probably multifactorial, but a major factor is the toxicity of systemic pesticides called nicotinoids, which kills insects by attacking their nervous systems In May, beekeepers and environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the agency over its failure to protect bees from toxic pesticides
Posted on: Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:44:35 +0000