We’ll follow media coverage, but expect the MSM to go with the scary media release and not the report.
The EPA’s media release states:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released a comprehensive scientific report on honey bee health. The report states that there are multiple factors playing a role in honey bee colony declines, including parasites and disease, genetics, poor nutrition and pesticide exposure. [Emphasis added]
But the released report says:
However, it is not clear, based on current research, whether pesticide exposure is a major factor associated with U.S. honey bee health declines in general, or specifically affects production of honey or delivery of pollination services. It is clear, however, that in some instances honey bee colonies can be severely harmed by exposure to high doses of insecticides when these compounds are used on crops, or via drift onto flowers in areas adjacent to crops that are attractive to bees…
It is also clear, based on chemical analysis of bees and bee products, that exposure of bees to a gamut of pesticides is commonplace, but the level of exposure to any particular pesticide is generally not enough to immediately or acutely kill bees…
Laboratory tests on individual honey bees have shown that field-relevant, sublethal doses of some pesticides have effects on bee behavior and susceptibility to disease. However, it remains a challenge to measure the effects of low-level, field-relevant exposure where it matters most: in real honey bee colonies…
The actual levels of exposure to pesticides that bees receive are still a big question…
Stay tuned for media misrepresentation!
The media release cited above is accurate as far as it goes. But it does imply a bigger role for pesticides than the detailed report indicates.