In 2018, the European Union decided to completely ban outdoor use of three neonicotinoid insecticides that are frequently used worldwide in maize, rapeseed, cotton and sunflower crops. And the European Parliament has already proposed that reducing usage of these insecticides should become a key objective of the common agricultural policy (CAP) in the future. The bees dies as they are not able to feed themselves.
They make them slower to learn or they completely forget basic associations for their survival, such as linking floral aroma and food. The mixture of substances interferes with the learning circuits in insects' brains (Nature Magazine releases*). The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) confirmed that the cause behind the mass death of bees in Europe is specifically the use of a particular type of fertiliser called neonicotinoids. In Oregon 50,000 bees died due to the effects caused by a pesticide, this is an example of how different substances can have an impact. And the latest statistics from beekeepers in the USA are not much more reassuring - according to the Bee Informed Partnership poll, last winter 37 % of honeybee colonies died, 9 % more than the usual average for winter deaths. On this continent in particular, bee populations and honey reserves have declined dramatically since 2015 - by 30 % per year in some areas.
In Europe alone, 84% of the 264 crop species and 4,000 plant varieties exist thanks to pollination by bees. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) states that there are 100 crop species that provide 90% of food around the world and 71 of these are pollinated by bees.
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