France bans pesticide linked to a sharp decline in bee populations across the world in recent years. The phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder may be caused by the bees drinking the nectar from the plants spayed with a Swiss made chemical.
Syngenta a global chemical company which is based in Basel Switzerland, rejects ban in France based on not enough evidence, but researchers are defending their studies.
Although research has yet to show clearly the causes of falling bee numbers, scientists are suggesting that a sub-lethal dose of thiamethoxam, a molecule contained in Cruiser OSR pesticide may be the cause of the decline, and collapse of bee colonies. Thiamethoxam is an insecticide in the class of neonicotinoids. It is believed to cause the bees to become disoriented and unable to navigate back to the hive. If this happens to the queen bee, then the hive will collapse.
What is Colony Collapse Disorder?
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, the term colony collapse disorder was first applied to a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of Western honey bee colonies in North America in late 2006. Colony collapse is significant economically because many agriculutral crops worldwide are pollinated by bees; and ecologically, because of the major role that bees play in the reproduction of plant communities in the wild.
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