Tragedy of the Commons: Bees and Neonics
Pause for a second to envision the environment without bees. It would be a lot less pleasant than the one you currently know. For starters, you would likely starve. Bees provide the majority of pollination assistance that nurtures agriculture. However, the bee population is diminishing due to multiple factors, yet the primary factor is a class of insecticide chemicals acknowledged as neonicotinoids or neonics. The neonic pesticide is beneficial for various farmers because their crops remained shielded and unharmed from "sap-sucking" and "leaf-chewing" insects ("What Farmers Need to Know About Neonicotinoid Pesticides", 1). However, neonics have acute, harmful effects to bees when initially applied and they can also persist in the environment for years, causing long-term chronic damage as well (Ellis et al, 2017).
In fact, neonics is sprayed around the seeds of the plants and is essentially practiced on corn and soybean crops. The pesticide is able to be preserved in the environment for an extended duration and leach into subsurface soil water which can affect neighboring plants. As the farmers are spraying the pesticide, it can drift and corrupt unintended land mass. Once the plants take in the pesticide, any bee that is pollinating the plant is subjected to the chemical. Also, those who are home gardener's, the chemicals that are the most efficacious ingredients are acteamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid, or thiamethoxam (Vermont Agency of Agriculture, 2015). After the insecticide has been applied to the plant, the active ingredients move through the plant and the concentration levels of the chemicals vary within the leaves, tissues, roots, and other neighboring plant counterparts. Once the bees engulf and ingest the insecticide they will be instantly affected. Private land owners are using the neonicotinoid pesticides for lawn and garden application at higher rates than agricultural uses (Reynolds, 2014). Licensed applicators assume unlicensed applicators are using an excessive amount of insecticides Researchers concluded, that twenty-six pesticides had an immediate, lethal effect of bees that came in contact with them ("Study finds glyphosate ….", 2015). Only seven pesticides were not responsible for the death of any bees and two of them were glyphosate and acetamiprid. A commonly known herbicide named "Roundup" contains glyphosate and acetamiprid. Glyphosate and acetamiprid have relatively low toxicity levels that do not harm bees. In 1974, Glyphosate was registered in the U.S. and is used to regulate growth and to ripen fruit (Henderson et al, 2010). This herbicide prevents that plant from making certain proteins that are needed for plant growth by stopping a specific enzyme pathway. In 2012, acetamiprid was registered in the U.S. and is a low risked solution to control the sucky-type insects (2002). This insecticide degrades rapidly by aerobic soil metabolism so it will not persist in the environment. Researchers' also discovered some of the toxicity of the pesticide levels were increased such as carbaryl, indoxacarb, and others which are slightly toxic to bees, but when they were applied to the fields they became a high-risk pesticide ("Study finds glyphosate…",2015). This study highlights the importance of over-applying neonics from the recommended labeled amount could cause the toxicity levels to increase. Many other leading brands that contained neonicotinoid pesticides are moving away from using toxic pesticides that affected the bee population. Ortho is a leading brand that partnered with the Pollinator Stewardship Council to help educate customers on the correct use of the pesticide. After coming to a conclusion to advocate using fewer neonicotinoid pesticides, they planned to get rid of the active ingredients in neonics which are imidacloprid, clothianidin, and dinotefuran (Lead Consumer…, 2016). All three chemicals are highly toxic to bees because …show more content…
In a Target parking lot in Oregon, over 50,000 bees were found dead due to the neonic pesticides being sprayed on nearby trees. This tragedy of the commons is compromising the future and posterity of the bees, and this decline is from human-induced behavior. In an attempt to alleviate any use of the deadly neonic pesticide, the EPA has created a plan to warn potential buyers and retailers from purchasing and selling any pesticide/insecticides that could cause harm to the bee population. The EPA has created bee-protective pesticide labels to put on all pesticides that contain
Pause for a second to envision the environment without bees. It would be a lot less pleasant than the one you currently know. For starters, you would likely starve. Bees provide the majority of pollination assistance that nurtures agriculture. However, the bee population is diminishing due to multiple factors, yet the primary factor is a class of insecticide chemicals acknowledged as neonicotinoids or neonics. The neonic pesticide is beneficial for various farmers because their crops remained shielded and unharmed from "sap-sucking" and "leaf-chewing" insects ("What Farmers Need to Know About Neonicotinoid Pesticides", 1). However, neonics have acute, harmful effects to bees when initially applied and they can also persist in the environment for years, causing long-term chronic damage as well (Ellis et al, 2017).
In fact, neonics is sprayed around the seeds of the plants and is essentially practiced on corn and soybean crops. The pesticide is able to be preserved in the environment for an extended duration and leach into subsurface soil water which can affect neighboring plants. As the farmers are spraying the pesticide, it can drift and corrupt unintended land mass. Once the plants take in the pesticide, any bee that is pollinating the plant is subjected to the chemical. Also, those who are home gardener's, the chemicals that are the most efficacious ingredients are acteamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid, or thiamethoxam (Vermont Agency of Agriculture, 2015). After the insecticide has been applied to the plant, the active ingredients move through the plant and the concentration levels of the chemicals vary within the leaves, tissues, roots, and other neighboring plant counterparts. Once the bees engulf and ingest the insecticide they will be instantly affected. Private land owners are using the neonicotinoid pesticides for lawn and garden application at higher rates than agricultural uses (Reynolds, 2014). Licensed applicators assume unlicensed applicators are using an excessive amount of insecticides Researchers concluded, that twenty-six pesticides had an immediate, lethal effect of bees that came in contact with them ("Study finds glyphosate ….", 2015). Only seven pesticides were not responsible for the death of any bees and two of them were glyphosate and acetamiprid. A commonly known herbicide named "Roundup" contains glyphosate and acetamiprid. Glyphosate and acetamiprid have relatively low toxicity levels that do not harm bees. In 1974, Glyphosate was registered in the U.S. and is used to regulate growth and to ripen fruit (Henderson et al, 2010). This herbicide prevents that plant from making certain proteins that are needed for plant growth by stopping a specific enzyme pathway. In 2012, acetamiprid was registered in the U.S. and is a low risked solution to control the sucky-type insects (2002). This insecticide degrades rapidly by aerobic soil metabolism so it will not persist in the environment. Researchers' also discovered some of the toxicity of the pesticide levels were increased such as carbaryl, indoxacarb, and others which are slightly toxic to bees, but when they were applied to the fields they became a high-risk pesticide ("Study finds glyphosate…",2015). This study highlights the importance of over-applying neonics from the recommended labeled amount could cause the toxicity levels to increase. Many other leading brands that contained neonicotinoid pesticides are moving away from using toxic pesticides that affected the bee population. Ortho is a leading brand that partnered with the Pollinator Stewardship Council to help educate customers on the correct use of the pesticide. After coming to a conclusion to advocate using fewer neonicotinoid pesticides, they planned to get rid of the active ingredients in neonics which are imidacloprid, clothianidin, and dinotefuran (Lead Consumer…, 2016). All three chemicals are highly toxic to bees because …show more content…
In a Target parking lot in Oregon, over 50,000 bees were found dead due to the neonic pesticides being sprayed on nearby trees. This tragedy of the commons is compromising the future and posterity of the bees, and this decline is from human-induced behavior. In an attempt to alleviate any use of the deadly neonic pesticide, the EPA has created a plan to warn potential buyers and retailers from purchasing and selling any pesticide/insecticides that could cause harm to the bee population. The EPA has created bee-protective pesticide labels to put on all pesticides that contain