People generally know that substances that are harmless when taken separately in small doses can lead to disorientation, and perhaps uncharacteristic behavior, when mixed. Honey bees, apparently, do not. After all, dabbling is what honey bees do, and it's what we love them for. These little workers are responsible for billions of annual agricultural industry dollars, thanks to their pollination services. But bees haven't been staying on task. They've been acting a little weird lately--leaving their hives and not coming back--and attracting a lot of attention for it.
There has been a lot of speculation as to the mysterious causes of CCD. This is a great article that focuses on pesticide use which seems like a very plausible and scary explanation to me. Are the bees another climate canary? It makes me wonder... what are these synergistic chemical reactions doing to us directly? A friend's Dad was recently diagnosed with a debilitating neurological disorder... he owned and operated a blueberry farm and doctors have said that the pesticides contributed to his disorder! An extreme case, but scary nonetheless.
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