Imagine entering your local food store and seeing that items most people eat everyday have been discontinued. Items such as coffee, apples, cucumbers and honey are no longer available to consumers. This may not be possible in our generation, but one day it could very well happen. My name is Matt Shaw from the Millsap FFA, and I am here today to talk to you about a major issue that is facing agriculture, the honeybee population. We see them all over during the spring, but in recent years, more and more bee colonies have died off. Between April of 2011 and April of 2012, a total of 29% of US managed honey bee colonies were lost. Between April of 2015 and April of 2016 almost 45% of managed US bee colonies were lost. This is an increase of …show more content…
At this time, there is little to no evidence that these pesticides are increasing yields from plants they are applied to. However, there has been evidence of the pesticides killing bees or causing damage to their nervous systems, which impedes their ability to forage and fly. Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health preformed a study which found that 70% of pollen and honey collected from local bees contained at least trace amounts of neonicotinoids. Levels found from these samples were enough to cause detrimental health effects. In a separate study, they found that over half of plants at a major garden store contained neonicotinoids. These levels were high enough to kill a bee instantly. In a study from 2016, 35 different pesticides and fungicides were collected from pollen that bees used to pollinate food crops in five U.S. states. Bees that came in contact with these combinations of chemicals were more likely to be infected with the Varroa Mite, a parasite that is associated with Colony Collapse Disorder. Colony Collapse Disorder is a phenomenon that occurs when all or the majority of worker bees suddenly disappear and leave their queen, plenty of food, and a few nurse bees behind. Without the worker bees, a hive cannot sustain itself and will eventually