In recent news, bees have been disappearing and dying at an alarming rate. New studies have concluded that the culprit primarily responsible for the mass death of honey bees is the biogenetic company Monsanto. Bayer is responsible for developing a particular insecticide called neonicotinoid pesticide clothianidin used by Monsanto which equals death for bees. This insecticide is used on several plants that bees pollenate and once the infected pollen is consumed by the bees, it wreaks havoc on their immune systems ultimately depleting it and leading the bee to death. To make matters worse, the bees responsible for foraging pollen and delivering it back to the hive then infect the other bees leading to massive deaths. Poland is the first country to recognize this issue and discontinue the use of the insecticide.
A fun fact about this entire situation is that the research firm responsible for finding these discoveries, Beelogics, was later bought out by Monsanto. Wow. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise us that a multi-billion dollar conglomerate like Monsanto would buy the very source of upending research done about them. If you can’t beat them, buy them. Nonetheless, this bee genocide will cause devastating effects on our ecosystem, as would any disruption to the natural cycle of nature. Not only do bees give us honey as a natural source of healthy sugar, we can expect to see the decline in the reproduction of different species of flowers and plants as the bees decrease. There are petitions circulating requesting that the EPA step in and regulate the situation before more damage is caused. I’ve got a feeling Monsanto will not go down with out a fight considering they’ve got a big hand in politics.