Bumblebees can be classified as ‘fish’ under California conservation law, court says
Toxic pesticide used by Dow to kill Asian honeybees kills California bumblebees
Honeybees are under attack by an invisible killer in their battle for their world.
Researchers report a new pesticide can kill honeybees at a lethal rate – without any visible effect on their bodies – making them “fish” under Californian wildlife law. The findings may be a harbinger of a new era where humans are forced to use pesticides that cause honeybees to become extinct.
The pesticide, which is known as fipronil, is a neurotoxin produced by Dow Chemical. It has been linked to colony collapse disorder, which has spread to a number of countries since the mid-1990s and has been linked to more than 300 deaths since 2006.
It’s widely known that bumblebees are an essential part of a healthy ecosystem and a crucial force of pollination, but until recently they were not as vulnerable to pesticide-caused colony collapse as honeybees. In California, honeybees are considered a threatened species, while bumblebees are not.
But in recent years, evidence has been mounting of a toxic threat to the honeybee – perhaps the bee, after all, that has been on the front lines of the war on bees.
The pesticide is being used for the first time in California. Dow has known about it for a decade but has not been able to warn the public and California farmers.
Bumblebee deaths across the West, where pesticides have been linked to collapse, have been reported in many places, including Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Utah. In addition, several bees have died in California after being injected with a toxic pesticide called imidacloprid, which is approved for use around bumblebees.
Scientists call for immediate public action
The latest study is the first to show honeybees are being killed by a pesticide that has no effect on their human health.
The pesticide, an insecticide commonly known as fipronil, has many lethal effects on the honeybee, but is especially harmful to brain cells, according to the researchers.
But the pesticides have never been linked to colony collapse, so there is no evidence of a similar threat to bumblebees.
Now, a team led by biologist Michael Long from UC Davis, has found that bees exposed