I remember sitting in my first year environmental sciences class and listening to a guest lecturer speak about neonicotinoids. She went on for the better part of the hour, telling us that “neonics barely harm bees” and that “bee populations in Canada are not declining.” For the duration of that hour, I could not refrain from thinking about how very wrong she was. Not only are neonicotinoids harming our beloved bumblebees, its effects also extend to everything they pollinate (a concept that is not lost to us following the release of The Bee Movie) and the very functioning of ecosystems. Recent research, published this past July by a researcher at the University of Guelph, is the first of its kind to look at pesticides’ effects beyond the bees.
Nigel Raine and his team found that not only do neonicotinoids “affect bee behaviour, including pollen collection, learning performance and reproduction,” but by doing so, they have caused colonies as a whole to collect less pollen, as well as collect less often. From there, it can be deduced that if the bees are collecting less pollen, there is also a decrease in the rate of pollination. This decrease was found to have affected fruit set (which is an important process in the sexual reproduction of fruit), fruit size and shape, as well as the number of seeds, which there were 36 per cent fewer in apples.
Despite the fact that the research was restricted to the pollination of apple crops, when applied to the various other plants and crops that rely on bees for pollination, the consequences of neonicotinoids are vast. The pesticide itself is systemic and fairly new in the field. Systemic pesticides are sometimes coated onto the seed of the plant or applied to the roots in order to later be absorbed into the plant, and thus transported throughout its tissues. The toxin will remain active inside the plant for entire seasons and can remain active in soil for years. The Pesticide Action Network (PAN) in the UK explains that once neonicotinoids come into contact with insects, the insecticide will attack the central nervous system. The chemical excites the nerves which will eventually lead to paralysis and death. Bees are especially vulnerable to neonicotinoids due to their having more receptors than other insects to allow for their specialized communication system, and because they have fewer detoxification genes than other insects.
When they were first introduced, neonicotinoids were widely approved because it was believed that they were more environmentally-friendly, more efficient, and safer. They reduced the number of times the pesticide needed to be applied, can be applied in far smaller doses, and are much safer for the health and wellbeing of humans, livestock, and birds. But if bees’ exposure to this pesticide persists, Raine explains that over time, there will be significant impacts on the functioning of natural ecosystems, the stability of crop yields, and—if crop yields begin to decrease—our economy.