Honeybee death clue found

Guess who is partially to blame?

Honeybee populations have been in serious decline for years, and Purdue University scientists may have identified one of the factors that cause bee deaths around agricultural fields. Analyses of bees found dead in and around hives from several apiaries over two years in Indiana showed the presence of neonicotinoid insecticides, which are commonly used to coat corn and soybean seeds before planting. The research showed that those insecticides were present at high concentrations in waste talc that is exhausted from farm machinery during planting.

The insecticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam were also consistently found at low levels in soil -- up to two years after treated seed was planted -- on nearby dandelion flowers and in corn pollen gathered by the bees, according to the findings released in the journal PLoS One.

Researchers found the toxins in each sample of dead and dying bees. The United States is losing about one-third of its honeybee hives each year. While no one factor is to blame, scientists believe that others such as mites and insecticides are all working against the bees, which are the lifeblood for pollinating food our crops and wild plants.