Research Links Chemicals to Bee Population Decline

A study that was recently published in the journal PLoS One further evidence linking the agriculture chemicals to the Colony Collapse Disorder of bees. When University of Maryland and US Department of Agriculture scientists fed east coast pollen to bees during their research, they found that it significantly reduced the insects’ ability to stave off infection from the parasite Nosema Ceranae, which is implicated in the increasing rate of CCD. The researchers also revealed that the pollen contained an average of nine different pesticides and fungicides, while one sample had approximately 21 different chemicals.