Philippe van den Bossche, an Impact Investor and Advocate of Sustainable Agriculture, Discusses the Harmful Effects of Pesticides on Bee Colonies
New York, NY (PRWEB) November 02, 2013 -- Philippe van den Bossche, an impact investor and advocate of sustainable agriculture, comments on a new study that highlights the harmful effects of pesticides on bee colonies.
According to an October 7, 2013 article published by Nature World News, titled, “Even Low Levels of Pesticides Affect Bees' Behavior”, bees that are exposed to even “minute” levels of pesticides experience changes in behavior that affect the work they do for the environment.
A recent study conducted by scientists at Royal Holloway University found that a presence of any pesticides in the environment, even those pesticides that aren’t intended to target bees, can set off a stress response in them, contributing to the rise in mass bee deaths.
Dr. John Bryden, from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway and lead author of the study, says bees are essential to healthy crop production. “One in three mouthfuls of our food depends on bee pollination,” he says. “By understanding the complex way in which colonies fall and die, we’ve made a crucial step in being able to link bee declines to pesticides and other factors, such as habitat loss and disease which can all contribute to colony failure.”
Dr. John Bryden’s study is “one of many researches that have shown a link between pesticide use in fields and disappearing honey bees.” The European Union has even imposed a two-year ban on some pesticides.
“Exposing bees to pesticides is a bit like adding more and more weight on someone's shoulders. A person can keep walking normally under a bit of weight, but when it gets too much - they collapse,” he says. “Similarly, bee colonies can keep growing when bees aren't too stressed, but if stress levels get too high the colony will eventually fail.”
Philippe van den Bossche, an impact investor and advocate of sustainable agriculture, says the use of these harmful pesticides will have a damaging effect on our nation’s organic food supply. “The use of harmful pesticides and insecticides may be killing the bee population, an essential component of agriculture. The bees that are being harmed work to pollinate our vegetables and fruits,” he says. “If they continue to disappear from their colonies, the well-being of our food supply will be in jeopardy.”
http://www.facebook.com/pvdb101/ [Philippe van den Bossche __title__ ] is an impact entrepreneur and investor and Chairman/Owner of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA), a leading organic agricultural and horticultural consulting and manufacturing company located in Middlefield, Ohio. AEA provides consulting services and specialty nutritional products to farms throughout the United States and Canada. Mr. van den Bossche is an advocate for organic farming and agriculture.
Philippe van den Bossche, Philippe van den Bossche, http://www.growbetterfood.com/, +1 (855) 347-4228, [email protected]
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