Pre-treated Home Garden Plants Harm Bees, New Tests Reveal

Are your home garden plants harming the bee population? Surprisingly yes! A new test found that most bee friendly plants from garden centers across the U.S. and Canada are pre-treated with pesticides that destroy the bees.

A new study 'Gardeners Beware 2014' found that nearly 51 percent of plant samples taken from top garden centers in Home Depot, Lowe's and Walmart across the United States and Canada were pre-treated with a harmful pesticide called neonicotinoid (neonic),which destroys bees, further declining their population. 

Apart from this, the researchers also found that certain flowers carried extremely high levels of neonic, enough to kill bees outright assuming comparable concentration of the pesticide was present in the flower's pollen and nectar. Also over 40 percent of the positive samples were found to be treated with two or more neonics.

"Our data indicate that many plants sold in nurseries and garden stores across the U.S. and Canada are being pre-treated with systemic neonicotinoid insecticides, making them potentially toxic to pollinators," said Timothy Brown, Ph.D., co-author of the report from the Pesticide Research Institute. "Unfortunately, these pesticides don't break down quickly so these plants could be toxic to bees for years to come."

Bees and other pollinators are essential for nearly two-third of the food crops that humans consume, but sadly they are in decline in several countries around the world. The European Union has banned three widely used neonicotinoids to prevent further damage.  Also, half a million Americans signed petitions urging Lowe's and Home Depot to curb the sale of neonics.

"A growing number of responsible retailers have decided to be part of the solution to the bee crisis and are taking bee-harming pesticides off their shelves," said Archer. "We urge Home Depot, Lowe's and other major retailers to join these leaders in making our backyards and communities safe havens for bees."

Earlier this month, scientists created a novel bio-pesticide using spider venom and plant protein, which is safe for honeybees.