“The ‘bee-pocalypse’ is mostly a myth, and neonic pesticides shouldn’t become bogeymen when other types of pesticides would be much more harmful,” writes Dr. Henry I. Miller in The Federalist. “Neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics for short) are state-of-the-art crop protection products that anti-pesticide zealots have been campaigning to eliminate for the better part of a decade. Applied mostly as seed coatings, which obviates the need for foliar spraying, they are absorbed into crop plants and control crop-destroying pests.
“They are safe for humans and animals, and the way they are used minimizes exposure to beneficial species such as bees and other pollinators. Small wonder, then, that they’ve become the world’s most widely used class of insecticide—and a prime target of anti-pesticide campaigners, many of whom are agents of the organic agriculture and food industries. The irony is that if passed, the Saving America’s Pollinators Act would actually be detrimental to bees and other pollinating species, while harming America’s farmers …
“The EU ban on neonics is devastating large swaths of agriculture, leaving crops such as oilseed rape and sugar beets vulnerable to plant pests. Ironically, it is also forcing farmers to rely on frequent, high-volume spray applications of older, harsher pesticides that are much more lethal to bees. Were it to be enacted, the Saving America’s Pollinators Act would do the same in this country, all to address a nonexistent ‘bee-pocalypse.’
“In reality, it’s America’s farmers who need protecting—from members of Congress and the law of unintended consequences.”
Read the full editorial at http://www.henrymillermd.org/22604/we-dont-need-to-ban-pesticides-to-save-bees.