Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Honeybee Colony Collapse Linked to Corn Insecticide as Planting Season Approaches

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Honeybee Colony Collapse Linked to Corn Insecticide as Planting Season Approaches

Click here to access article by Melanie J. Martin from Earth Times.

Farmers have been using this insecticide for over a decade. See this abstract from scientific article.

Experimental results show that the environmental release of particles containing neonicotinoids can produce high exposure levels for bees, with lethal effects compatible with colony losses phenomena observed by beekeepers.

I wonder why it took so long to determine this link, and if their is a significant testing of insecticides before being released to the market--I doubt it. Also, it makes one speculate as to other, but yet unknown, deleterious effects this insecticide might be having on the environment and humans.