Some Pesticides Do More Harm Than Good: Bees and Neonicotinoids

​When you come across plants that say they have been pre-treated with pesticides, you’d probably think that it’s a good thing. However, this is not always the case. As the daughter of a beekeeper, I have learned how some pesticides can cause more harm than good.  Specifically, I am referring to Neonicotinoids. Plants treated with Neonicotinoids are found in most chain home improvement stores. The use of Neonicotinoids is boasted to help prevent harm from flies, beetles, wood boring pests, mealy bugs, and aphids. What they don’t tell you is all the harm this pesticide causes honeybees and other pollinators who do good for the environment. 

​Neonicotinoids can be sprayed on plants, but more commonly the seed is treated with the pesticide before it is planted. When insects, such as honeybees, pollinate from plants treated with Neonicotinoids, they ingest the chemical. This leads to Colony Collapse Disorder with hives of honeybees. When they ingest the chemical, it is thought that it causes the bees to become disoriented and they are unable to make it back to their hive, sometimes even forgetting how to look for food and then they die. The pesticide is long-lived and can last for months or even years, leading to contamination of the soil and even some water sources. 

​Neonicotinoids are so harmful that the European Union placed a partial ban on the pesticide in 2013. Just a few weeks ago, they voted in favor of a complete ban. Meanwhile, in the United States, use of Neonicotinoids is still allowed and causing the decline of honeybees. However, at the beginning of 2018 some states such as Maryland and Connecticut have begun taking steps to ban the sale of products containing the pesticide.

​From 2007 to 2013, more than 10 million beehives in North America died off. If we continue losing bees at this rate, we will have problems. According to the Xerces Society, at least 85 percent of flowering plants rely on bees or other pollinators. Also, bees pollinate over 30 percent of plants that provide food for humans. If we don't have bees, we will lose food supplies as humans. Not only does this pesticide affect honeybees, it affects other pollinators including other bee species and butterflies, and even some birds.

​Because this information has been brought to light in recent years, Home Depot has vowed to remove all plants treated with Neonicotinoids by the end of 2018 and Lowe’s has followed suit pledging to do the same by the end of 2019. Remember, when you are searching for flowers for your yard or maybe even plants for you garden, make sure you read the label. If a plant has been treated with Neonicotinoids, don’t buy it. Maybe even let the store manager know that you would like to see the removal of plants treated with Neonicotinoids. The world can’t afford to lose any more bees and other pollinators!

By: Hannah Raines
Copyright ALL Outdoors 2018