

The Head-Scratching Case of the Vanishing Bees - pnr
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/us/the-head-scratching-case-of-the-vanishing-bees.html

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jarvist
Mixing in the genuine scientific concern about neonicotinoid systematic
pesticides with completely off-the-wall worries about cell phone towers and GM
crops is just trying to spread uncertainty and doubt. I can't understand why a
journalist would write such a misleading article today after the scientific
studies & the EU ban.

Neonicotinoids are applied by treating the _seed_ of the crops. Their very
action is that of a nerve agent for insects. It really isn't that surprising
that sub-lethal doses might have an effect on the ability of honey bees to
navigate back to the hive. This isn't some 'underlying premise', there are a
number of careful scientific studies out there out there[1], perhaps the most
interesting to the Hacker News audience is where they attached RFID tags to
bees[2].

Also, the Varroa destructor mite doesn't tend to do that much damage on its
own, it is a vector spreading viruses. The modern mix of viruses swirling
around the bee populations are probably not helped by commercial movement of
colonies around the country.

[1] [http://www.theguardian.com/environment/damian-carrington-
blo...](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/damian-carrington-
blog/2013/apr/04/bees-pesticides-neonicotinoid-europe-ban) [2]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21267650](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21267650)

