The common crop pesticide thiamethoxam (neonicotinoid systemic
pesticide) has been shown for the first time to seriously harm
bees by damaging their renowned ability to navigate home. The
new research strongly links the pesticides to the serious
decline in honey bee numbers in the US and UK – a drop of around
50% in the last 25 years. The losses pose a threat to food
supplies as bees pollinate a third of the food we eat such as
tomatoes, beans, apples and strawberries. Scientists found that
bees consuming one pesticide suffered an 85% loss in the number
of queens their nests produced, while another study showed a
doubling in "disappeared" bees – those that failed to return
from food foraging trips. The significance of the new work,
published Science, is that it is the first carried out in
realistic, open-air conditions.