Raising Awareness of the Use of Pesticides that are Harmful to Bees

An estimated 500 to 900 bees die every day due to direct exposure to pesticides. In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banned the use of neonicotinoid insecticides — which are extremely harmful to bees and other pollinators — in National Wildlife Refuges. But in 2018, the Trump administration announced the reversal of that ban. Pollinators aren’t even safe from neonics on wildlife refuges.

I have this challenge

the problem

Despite their importance, honey bee colonies have declined in Europe and North America. Scientists have identified multiple factors influencing this decline, including diseases and pests, poor bee nutrition, lack of genetic diversity, bee management practices, and pesticides. In May 2018, an EPA research team published Sensitivity analyses for simulating pesticide impacts on honey bee colonies, which builds upon a recently-developed model to provide scientists with a clearer understanding of how pesticide exposure affects honey bees at the colony level. Researchers found that queen strength and forager lifespan are critical factors for colony survival, regardless of pesticide exposure. Additionally, honey bee colonies exposed to direct spray and soil application methods exhibited the least recovery, so these application methods have the strongest impact on colony dynamics.

the impact

honey bees’ pollination contributes to over half the value of the United States’ $29 billion per year agriculture industry.

ideas

Environment & Sustainability Beeodiversity is an environmental monitoring tool that's linked to the ecosystem of bees. The tool allows you to identify more than 500 types of pesticides and numerous heavy metals. It analyses more than 20 indicators to give a true picture of the state of the environment. Some of these indicators are directly linked to insect, plant or human health (e.g. pesticides can lie at the root of allergies or serious illnesses). On the basis of the results obtained, Beeodiversity hopes to make suggestions and take actions including: Raising awareness among farmers or other users of pesticides found on the site about more sustainable practices Planting in a targeted fashion to compensate for any established dietary deficiencies.

attributions

https://www.socialtech.org.uk/projects/beeodiversity/
Beeodiversity - https://beeodiversity.com/en/who-we-are/our-specificity-our-mission-our-involvement/
Understanding How Pesticide Exposure Affects Honey Bee Colonies- https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/understanding-how-pesticide-exposure-affects-honey-bee-colonies
Pesticide Action Network - https://www.panna.org/take-action/keep-pesticides-out-wildlife-refuges

Sierra Briscoe - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sierrabriscoe/

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