WASHINGTON—(ENEWSPF)–April 23, 2015. A study published today in the journal Nature finds that the use of neonicotinoids, the most widely used insecticides in the United States, has serious consequences for wild bees. The study, conducted in Sweden, finds that in field conditions, neonicotinoid use as a seed coating reduces wild bee density, solitary bee nesting and bumblebee colony growth; it concluded that the “contribution of pesticides to the global decline of wild bees may have been underestimated.” The findings have implications for America’s pollinators because neonicotinoid seed coatings are used on about 99 percent of corn seeds in the United States.
