The Cause of Colony Collapse for Bees?

This story’s dated (Dec 2010), but it’s a reminder that there seems to be something more at hand than just a simple ‘mystery’ about why we’re getting what’s called ‘Colony Collapse’ in bee colonies.

According to the article, it’s alleged that the US EPA knowingly ignored warnings about the use of a pesticide called clothianidin, a product developed by Bayer of Germany.

According to the original document,

Clothianidin’s major risk concern is to nontarget insects (that is, honey bees). Clothianidin is a neonicotinoid insecticide that is both persistent and systemic. Acute toxicity studies to honey bees show that clothianidin is highly toxic on both a contact and an oral basis. Although EFED does not conduct RQ based risk assessments on non-target insects, information from standard tests and field studies, as well as incident reports involving other neonicotinoids insecticides (e.g., imidacloprid) suggest the potential for long-term toxic risk to honey bees and other beneficial insects.

Wow.  It’s astounding what some companies and organizations will do in order to make a buck.