By Yvette d’Entremont
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Contrary to popular belief, the relationship is doing pretty well. The bee populations are at about a 20-year high. The main pesticide that’s come under fire have been a class called neonicotinoids, and studies have shown that the possibilities of harm from neonics is limited at best. In a study published by the Journal of Economic Entomology, exposing bees to amounts of neonicotinoids they would be exposed to in the field, their health was not affected. Growers are being cautious in their pesticide application process to be on the safe side, but this pesticide is applied to non-GMO crops, so the GMOs themselves wouldn’t be implicated anyway.
The likeliest culprits for CCD? A deadly virus, the varroa mites, a species that viciously attacks the bees, and the effects of climate change. If pesticides are involved, any degree and exact role hasn’t been determined yet.
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