OPINION:
I appreciated the article “Wisconsin beekeepers battle dramatic honeybee losses” (Web, June 13). In discussing the plight of these beekeepers, let us not underrate the significance of where these losses are occurring. Wisconsin produces a whopping 58 percent of the nation’s cranberry crop, and yielded 40.7 million pounds of apples in 2014. Both of these crops make Wisconsin’s top-10 cash crops list, and both depend on pollinators.
As the article states, numerous factors contribute to hive losses. However, studies have shown that neonicotinoids should be recognized as a key contributor to bee colony collapse disorder. The varroa mite has been around for years. Only recently, with the increased, prophylactic use of neonicotinoids, have bees and other valuable pollinators begun to decline in number so dramatically.
Pollinators are vital to both Wisconsin’s economy and our national food system, and it is in our own best interest to protect them. Therefore, we must call on the Environmental Protection Agency to move forward with its research and take action to ban neonicotinoids. Failure to ban these bee-killing pesticides will have disastrous effects. After all, no bees means no food.
CASHEN CONROY
Environment America
Somerville, Mass.
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