08-10-2019, 07:51 PM
Quote:America’s agricultural landscape is now 48 times more toxic to honeybees, and likely other insects, than it was 25 years ago, almost entirely due to widespread use of so-called neonicotinoid pesticides
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/envir...riculture/
Quote:A growing body of science implicates pesticides called neonicotinoids and glyphosate — made by giant chemical companies Bayer, Syngenta and Monsanto — as key factors in their decline.
Neonicotinoids (aka neonics) are one of the most common pesticides used in agriculture and are also used extensively by home and garden centers. Unbeknownst to consumers, many “bee-friendly” garden plants have been pre-treated with these bee-killing pesticides. Exposure to neonics can kill bees directly and also makes them more susceptible to other impacts like pests, diseases, loss of habitat and a changing climate.
Glyphosate (a.k.a. Monsanto’s Roundup) is the most widely used herbicide in the world. In the United States, glyphosate is wiping out milkweed, which monarch butterflies rely on as the only food for their young. Use of glyphosate has increased dramatically in the past two decades since Monsanto launched its genetically engineered Roundup-Ready corn, soy, canola and cotton.
https://foe.org/neonicotinoids-glyphosate/
Quote:Wal-Mart Moves to Patent Autonomous Robotic Bees for Crop Pollination
Seeking to compete with Amazon and other major retailers in the world of food production, Wal-Mart has been moving to strengthen their supply chain.
The company, worth $220 billion as of 2017, has plenty of expendable income to do just that, and has reportedly invested in patents on a surprising new technology: robotic, autonomous bees designed to pollinate crops,
https://www.march-against-monsanto.com/w...ate-crops/