Researchers working to save our bees
While the pesticide case has played out, however, studies into neonics’ long-term impacts have continued. As well, the Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, a group of 50 scientists from around the world, reviewed the science on neonics and found that plants sprayed with neonics remain toxic for years and can affect entire ecosystems.
The task force concluded the pesticides should be banned.
There’s enough evidence that other non-European jurisdictions are considering banning the pesticides. Health Canada is asking the public to provide input on a possible ban here, with the deadline for feedback being March 23.
Bees play a critical role in agriculture. Commercial pollination by honeybees contributes an estimated $275 million to agricultural yields in B.C., and as much as $4.6 billion to the Canadian economy. In Canada, honeybees produce 34 million kilograms of honey each year and are responsible for pollinating numerous fruits, vegetables, nuts and oil seeds such as canola.
In addition, studies by researchers at Simon Fraser University suggest that wild bees, of which there are more than 450 species in B.C., are even more effective pollinators of many crops than are their honeybee cousins. These native bees provide pollination services that back up honeybees’ work.
But in the past decade or so, bees have been dying at unprecedented rates, with honeybees suffering most. Across Canada, beekeepers have lost more than a quarter of their colonies each winter over the past decade. In some years, die-offs in some parts of B.C. have wiped out 70 to 80 per cent of colonies.
Culprits include mites, fungi, loss of habitat, hard winters and widespread use of pesticides — but no case has been built that points the finger at a single cause. It’s possible that many causes are contributing to bees’ woes.
A key problem with neonic pesticides is that, even though they are applied to seeds and roots, the chemicals spread throughout the plant as it grows. They show up in leaves, pollen, nectar, fruit and flowers. This keeps aphids, caterpillars and grubs from devouring the plant, but also poisons pollinators — butterflies, bees, beetles, even hummingbirds.
Ontario beekeepers whose hives are located near crops treated with neonics describe their bees dying with their tongues sticking out, wings flared and bodies trembling — signs of acute pesticide poisoning. One study found that a single kernel of corn treated with one of the three problematic chemicals, imidacloprid, can kill small and “blue jay-sized birds,” and sicken larger ones.
While political winds seem to be blowing toward pesticide bans, a group of scientists at the University of British Columbia are looking for other ways to protect bees. They are analyzing the genetics of 1,000 bee colonies from across the country, looking for 12 key traits that help western honeybees thrive under Canadian conditions.
Identifying the genetic and protein markers for these traits will enable beekeepers to employ traditional selective breeding methods to quickly and cost-effectively breed honeybee colonies that are better able to survive Canadian winters.
The bees would be the pollinator equivalent of the Canadian horse or Red Fife wheat — healthy, diseaseresistant and productive under Canada’s challenging northern conditions.