An article in the Business Section of the New York Times on April 9th, 2015, Pesticides Linked to Bee Deaths Pose More Risks, European Group Says by David Jolly: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/business/energy-environment/pesticides-probably-more-harmful-than-previously-thought-scientist-group-warns.html?_r=0
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/2821929/neonicotinoid_link_to_monarch_butterfly_decline.html – The Ecologist : Neonicotinoid Link to Monarch Butterfly Decline, April 9, 2015 by Jonathon Latham. USDA researchers have identified the neonicotinoid insecticide clothianidin as a likely contributor to monarch butterfly declines in North America.
“The USDA research is published in the journal Science of Nature and was published online on 3rd April (Pecenka and Lundgren 2015). (ISN has had hacking problems, again. If this page is unavailable to you, thank the chemical industry, and please try later)
This means that domestic gardens – often considered a ‘haven’ for wildlife species that can no longer survive in chemical-drenched, GMO-occupied farmland – can present an even great toxic hazard. Most gardeners will never even know that their commercial plant purchases are helping to wipe out the biodiversity they are trying to save.”
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014/06/25/business/25reuters-usa-agriculture-bees.html U.S. Retailers Look to Limit Pesticides to Help Honeybees – Home Depot is phasing out plants with neonics.
Lowe’s maybe just joined them, but said it would take till 2019 to phase out plants treated with neonics. That is not acceptable as far as the health of our bees since residues accumulate and do not dissipate over time causing great harm and leading to colony collapse.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/business/international/europe-warns-of-human-risk-from-insecticides.html December 2013 In the Business Section of the New York Times: European Agency Warns of Risk to Health in Humans in Pesticides Tied to Bee Death by Danny Hakim. Among other concerns, the study warns of risk to children’s developing nervous systems.