Josh Elliott, CTVNews.ca
Published Saturday, May 10, 2014 2:56PM EDT
In this file photo, bees pause on a sunflower at the Agricenter in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Jim Weber)
Pesticides are directly responsible for a massive decline in the bee population in North America and Europe, a new study out of Harvard University says.
The report, which is published in the June edition of the Bulletin of Insectology, concludes that corn, potato and soybean pesticides containing neonicotinoid chemicals are directly to blame for a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder (CCD).
Worker bees are thought to absorb trace amounts of the neonicotinoids during the pollination process before bringing those chemicals back to the hive. Eventually, the neonicotinoid buildup begins to neurologically impair the bees, causing them to abandon the hive.
The authors say the findings reinforce earlier studies linking neonicotinoids to a global bee die-off dating back to 2006.
“The results from this study not only replicate findings from the previous study … but also reinforce the conclusion that sublethal exposure to neonicotinoids is likely the main culprit for the occurrence of CCD,” the study states.