Mysterious Bee Deaths Solved

Bees are pollinators that are necessary for plants to produce food. Widespread bee deaths the past few years have caused considerable concern about the potential for reduced food production. We now learn the EPA knew why the bees have been dying - the EPA approved a chemical that kills the bees.

Is the EPA working to protect the environment and the people or is the EPA working for the big corporations?

EPA Document Shows It Knowingly Allowed Pesticide That Kills Honey Bees

The document, which was leaked to a Colorado beekeeper, shows that the EPA has ignored warnings about the use of clothianidin, a pesticide produced by Bayer that mainly is used to pre-treat corn seeds. The pesticide scooped up $262 million in sales in 2009 by farmers, who also use the substance on canola, soy, sugar beets, sunflowers, and wheat, according to Grist.

Suspicions about clothianidin aren't new; the EPA's Environmental Fate and Effects Division (EFAD) first expressed concern when the pesticide was introduced, in 2003, about the "possibility of toxic exposure to nontarget pollinators [e.g., honeybees] through the translocation of clothianidin residues that result from seed treatment."

Clothianidin has already been banned by Germany, France, Italy, and Slovenia for its toxic effects.