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Honey Bee Demise

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Submitted By ricksterp3417
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The peculiar collapse of honeybee colonies is becoming a global phenomenon. First observed in the United States and parts of Europe over the past decade, there is now developing reports of a decline in China, Japan, and African nations – most notable Egypt. Initial viewpoints for the cause of these occurrences were surrounded by the use of pesticides, specifically neonicotinoids, on crops. However, recent studies by the University of Exeter in the UK provide reasoning as to why the pesticides are not proven guilty of the global honeybee decline just yet. Neonicotinoids are the most prevalent agricultural insecticides, and honeybees ingest residues of the pesticides as they gather nectar and pollen from the treated plants. However, Dr. James Cresswell of the University of Exeter stated that although it is known that neonicotinoids affect honeybees, there is no evidence that they could cause a colony to collapse. While admitting that these pesticides may be harmless, Dr. Cresswell revealed that based on calculations he conducted, pesticides are not the clear cause to this issue.
In class, we learned about the extensive use of pesticides and other chemicals in the environment and food industry. Pesticides, by definition, are large and varied group of substances that are specifically designed to kill biological organisms such as weeds, insects, and rodents. Based on the knowledge of pesticides I gathered in lecture and the facts provided by the article, it is a very difficult problem to try and solve. For example, it was stated that the use of pesticides and herbicides have decreased by 50% since 1980. On the other hand, the loss of honeybee colonies accelerated afterwards, around 1995.

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