Important Pesticide Updates

In 2014, Bayer opened its Bee Care Center in North Carolina and the next year was the finalist for two national PR awards in crisis management.  U.S. Right To Know wrote an in depth article on how the center was used to fix Bayer’s reputation after their role in the declining numbers of bees.  Read the piece here.  

The journal Science published a report this month that ties bat declines in the United States to increased human infant mortality. Farmers in US counties affected by dwindling bat populations increased their use of insecticides by 31 percent since fewer bats were consuming flying insects that would eat their crops.  In these same counties, infant mortality rose by about 8 percent, likely because of increases in environmental pesticides.  Researchers tested against other causes, such as unemployment or drug overdoses, but could not find other correlations.  Read more about the study here.

Flupyradifurone, a novel pesticide thought to be a potential successor to banned neonicotinoids, caused 100% mortality in mason bees in a recent test.  They also found a number of sublethal effects.  Seven days post-application, bees released into the pesticide-treated plants were less likely to start nesting, had lower survival rates, and were less efficient foragers, taking 12.78% longer on average to collect pollen and nectar than control bees.  Read more here.