Richard Tren (Africa Fighting Malaria) explains in the WSJ the junk science attack on neonicotinoid pesticides by the EU.
…The evidence against the insecticide is weak. Banning it would be at best premature and likely to do far more harm than good.
The new neonicotinoids are often applied directly to the seeds so that the chemical is contained within the growing plant, thereby protecting it from pests. Seed treatment allows for lower doses of insecticide than spraying.
And what about the bees? In recent years there appears to have been increased bee “die-offs” and disappearances of whole hives in the United States and EU countries. Environmental groups such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Center for Food Safety principally blame neonicitinoids, which have been used widely around the world for at least a decade.
But bee die-offs are not new. Bee colonies were also reported disappearing in the early part of the 20th century, long before modern insecticides. If neonicotinoids were causing die-offs, there should be more of them with the higher use of these insecticides—yet there aren’t…
Awwww. Mosquitoes are such cute little disneyfied critters, can’t kill em.