What did people believe was killing the bees before?
The die-off has been blamed on everything from global warming to overbreeding. More far-fetched suggestions, says The New York Times, included a “secret plot by Russia or Osama bin Laden to bring down American agriculture,” or a supposed “rapture of the bees, in which God recalled them to heaven.” The mystery even inspired a documentary, which blamed genetically modified pesticides for the bees’ disappearance. Did this study examine pesticides, too? No — and some are suspicious about that. It has emerged that Bromenshenk previously received research grants from Bayer, the manufacturer of pesticides that some still blame for the diminishing colonies. The bee researcher denies any conflict of interest and says no Bayer funds were spent on this particular study. The study didn’t look at pesticide use, he explained, because “others are funded to do that.” How many bees have died exactly? No one quite knows — but it’s anywhere from 20 percent to 40 percent of the bee population of the U.S.
