Bee Colonies Are Dying From "Non-Lethal" Fungicides

Even if it won't cause World War III, bees are responsible for pollinating $30 billion worth of crops in the US alone, and if there aren't bees, there isn't food. So we have a more-than-vested interest in figuring out why bee colonies have been dying off for the last six years.

A new study tries to zero in on what's killing, shocking, perhaps soon agriculturally-crippling, numbers of bees. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this latest research on what's behind colony collapse disorder finds it's a whole hell of a lot of things: chemicals not commonly thought to be overly hurtful to bees are dangerous;  chemicals are making bees more susceptible to parasites; and banning one class of pesticides is really just one part of the solution. Basically: it's all of chemically-intensive modern agriculture.

That last sentence may veer towards overstatement and oversimplification, but it's not really off the mark.

The researchers from the University of Maryland and the USDA found, after collecting pollen from hives on the East Coast that had been pollinating a variety of crops and giving it to healthy bees, is that those healthy bees become less able to resist a common bee parasite that is already implicated in colony collapse disorder.

In the collected pollen, scientists detected 35 different pesticides, as well as high levels of fungicides. Conventional wisdom on fungicides has it that they are fairly safe for honey bees. However, this study finds "an increased probability of [parasite] infection in bees that consumed pollen with a higher fungicide load."

In the researcher's estimation, this finding highlights, "a need for research on sub-lethal effects of fungicides and other chemicals that bees placed in an agricultural setting are exposed to."

The study's lead author Dennis vanEngelsdorp told Quartz, "There's growing evidence that fungicides may be affecting the bees on their own and I think what it highlights is a need to reassess how we label these agricultural chemicals."

Interestingly, the study also finds that honey bees used to pollinate certain crops (though not almonds and apples) tend to often return to the hive with pollen from a plants other than the one they were brought in to pollinate. Perhaps it's not surprising but it leads to two points brought up by the authors, one a tiny bit hopeful in outlook, one further complicating the situation: 1) "These findings support other research with honey bees and native bees indicating that in some crops native bees may be more efficient pollinators" than bees brought in to do the job; 2)  "Beekeepers need to consider not only pesticide regimens on the fields in which they are placing their bees, but also spray programs near those fields that may contribute to pesticide drift onto weeds."

I'll leave the report and detailed discussion points there. The bigger point I think the report brings up is this: Colony collapse disorder is a really great example of all our current environmental problems, how to solve them and how not to go about doing so.

It's so tempting to try to single out a cause of the problem and to search for a solution to the problem. Ban this chemical and, presto, done. Problem solved. Let's move on with progress. But the reality is just far more complicated. Banning one class of pesticides may be part of the solution but it's not the entirety of it. As this research shows, factors that on their own may not be decisive or direct can influence the situation in complex and subtle ways that aren't immediately intuitive or obvious. Only by taking a wider, holistic view of the situation can we start to get a glimpse at the network of factors creating the problem and the network of steps required to mitigate the situation.

It's of course complicated by the fact that once profits and business and ego enter the situation—"We're providing jobs and income and doing good and I'm not doing anything harmful, not me!," the refrain often goes—it becomes much more difficult to start linking together those network of steps required. It's also complicated by the urgent need to act when information is imperfect.

You get the picture. It's similar for dealing with climate change, using non-polluting sources of energy, rebuilding vibrant local economies, maintaining or rebuilding biodiversity, what have you.