Source: Panna
With little fanfare, pesticide manufacturer Bayer has asked California regulators to limit the use of one of their most profitable products, imidacloprid.
Rather than undergo the public scrutiny and cost involved in a state-mandated re-evaluation of the pesticide’s impact on bees, emerging reports say the company has requested imidacloprid be restricted from use on almond crops, which honey bees are trucked in from around the country to pollinate each February.
Imidacloprid belongs to a class of systemic, neurotoxic pesticides known to be particularly toxic to honey bees: neonicotinoids. As systemics, they permeate the plant from the roots up and are expressed in pollen, nectar and guttation droplets (like pesticide dew).
Read More: Almond joy! – Victory for bees
Cartoon by Bob Moran
