EPA Releases New Pesticide Labels to Protect Honeybees

In a bid to better protect bees and other pollinators, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has developed new pesticide labels that prohibit use of some neonicotinoid pesticide products where bees are present. Environmentalists want the agency to take these pesticides off the market.

The agency says the labels are part of its ongoing effort to protect bees and prevent colony decline. Bees are extremely important as they help pollinate many fruits and vegetables, including apples, strawberries, blueberries and cucumbers.

The labels will have a bee advisory box and icon with information on routes of exposure and spray drift precautions. It affects pesticides containing the neonicotinoids imidacloprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin and thiamethoxam.

In April, the European Commission adopted a proposal to restrict the use of these same three pesticides for a period of two years. The restriction came in response to a report by the European Food Safety Authority that identified "high acute risks" for bees from exposure to pesticide dust in corn, cereals and sunflowers and to residues in pollen and nectar in crops like oilseed rape and sunflower.

A month later the US Department of Agricultre and EPA released a report on honeybee health that blamed a complex set of stressors for honeybee declines including loss of habitat, parasites and disease, genetics, poor nutrition and pesticide exposure.

Many fruit producers are forced to buy bees so their plants can pollinate and that has boosted prices of produce.

Home Depot released a statement: "We have not reviewed the study but we certainly appreciate the importance of the bee population. We will reach out to the study group to find out more about their findings and methodology."