Bees are Essential to The Survival of The Human Race
Beekeeping has been practiced for thousands of years. There are many species of bees including bumblebees, leafcutter bees, stingless bees, and honeybees. Aside from honey, bees also produce beeswax, royal jelly, and propolis. However bees are most commonly known for their role in pollination. Bees are responsible for the pollination of flowers and plants. Without bees, many plant species would cease to exist. The world would also experience mass food shortages. In the past ten years, the bee population has seen an extremely rapid decline. Many scientists project that if the population continues to decline at the rate it is now, bees could become completely extinct. In fact, many bee species…show more content… Neonicotinoids’ main ingredient is Nicotine. The word Neonicotinoid means new nicotine-like insecticides. “The use of pesticides—neonicotinoids in particular, which are commonly used on corn, soybean, canola and cereal, as well as many fruits and vegetables—have, by some estimates, killed as many as 250 million bees in a just a few years.”(Loki, Reynard) Some widely used neonicotinoids are Acetamiprid, Clothianidin, Dinotefuran, Imidacloprid, Nitenpyram, Thiacloprid, and Thiamethoxam. Imidacloprid is one of the most mainly criticized neonicotinoids. These insecticides were first used in 1990, but had a high jump in use in 2006 and 2007, the exact years when CCD was first widely diagnosed. Companies like Monsanto, Syngenta, and Bayer (companies that make large amounts of the pesticides) have all sponsored studies on the dangers of these pesticides to bees. Ironically, all of them came back saying that the neonicotinoids are safe. Monsanto, Syngenta, and Bayer deny accusations that the pesticides are harmful to bees, but new research says different. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the results of a risk assessment of the pesticide, Imidacloprid. They found that it was responsible for the death of many bees. The risk was so high that the EPA has reason to limit or even possibly ban the use of these pesticides before 2018. The research found that when bees come into contact with common levels of the pesticides used in fields, they suffer extreme harm or even death. The death of large amounts of birds, butterflies, and fish have also been linked to exposure of these pesticides. The EPA has reports coming for other neonicotinoids in the future, although the results for all of them are predicted to be the same.
