By Lee Ji-eun
A new study has found a link between the frequent massive die-offs of honeybees and insecticides used to coat corn seeds.
The latest study, conducted by Italian researchers at the University of Padova and published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology reported that colony collapse disorder, or the mass deaths of honeybees come from planting coated corn seeds.
Since a technology, neonicotinoid, was introduced to coat corn seeds with the insecticide, in some European countries in the late 1990s, severe colony losses have been widely reported.
The insecticide has been used widely throughout the world because it kills insects by paralyzing nerves but have a lower toxicity for other animals.
In order to coat the seeds, pneumatic drilling machines suck them in and spray the air containing highly-concentrated coating substance on them.
Scientists suspect the mass die-offs could have been caused by the particles of insecticide that were released into the air by the machines when the chemicals are sprayed.
They observed honeybees that flew through an emission cloud of the seeding machine died around the period of corn planting, around mid-March to May.
“It seems that honeybees are exposed to the insecticide as beekeepers leave sugar-water feeder or hives near cornfields,” said a researcher.
“Bees were killed when they exposed to the air with high concentrations of pesticide-coated particles created by the automated planting machines as they flew through cornfield.”
The study was conducted with financial support of the University of Padova and the Italian Ministry of Agriculture.
Even before the latest study, some researchers had identified it as a potential factor in bee die-offs, along with other pesticides, Varroa mites, the Nosema fungus and a variety of viruses. Some European countries, including Italy, have limited or suspended the use of neonicotinoids.
However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to allow its use.
The writer is a Korea Times intern.