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Don\\u2019t you want to know what\\u2019s happening to the bees? Don\\u2019t worry, we aren\\u2019t about to delve into a discussion of Shyamalan\\u2019s worst movie that wasn\\u2019t named The Last Airbender. Rather, we want to talk about what might be killing all the bees.\\xa0

You\\u2019ve no doubt heard about the collapse of bee populations around the world. It\\u2019s gotten so bad that there are people who make a living transporting their bee colonies around the United States so they can pollinate crops in different areas. If you are aware of that, then you are also aware that bees play an essential role in the entire food chain. There is a very real chance that if bees go extinct, then we won\\u2019t be far behind. That\\u2019s why scientists have been working hard on trying to figure out just what is happening to the bees.

A recent study suggests a major contributor to the decline in bee population is soil pesticides. Yes, this might seem to be a \\u2018scientists confirm that water is wet\\u2019 situation. After all, it stands to reason that something designed to kill bugs is in fact killing bugs. So, if this is so obvious, why didn\\u2019t science already confirm that this was the case years ago?

This is where we get to learn a few things. Things I certainly didn\\u2019t know before. Most of our knowledge of bees is confined to honeybees and bumblebees. Apparently, they are relatively tame and docile, making them easier to work with. However, there are around 20,000 species of bees in the world and most of them don\\u2019t even live in a hive. Most actually live separately in tiny underground nests.\\xa0

One type of pesticide that is of particular concern is the neonicotinoids family. They mimic nicotine which as it turns out attacks an insect\\u2019s nervous system. This is another thing that should not be surprising. After all, it\\u2019s a pretty potent stimulant for humans. Now take that chemical and spray seeds with it and shove them in the ground. Now the chemical leaches into the ground, the same ground the bees make their nests in. Given what nicotine does to people, when you apply a similar substance to something as small as a bee, it\\u2019s basically nerve gas. The negative effects of this potent pesticide are so well known that it is all but banned in Europe starting back in 2019.

Yet, the chemical was being used back in the 1980s. Why did it take so long for people to recognize its harmful effects? Because it is used on the ground and those honey and bumblebees that we tend to study just don\\u2019t spend that much time there. They are usually buzzing around ruining your picnic. Yet, ground bees have been getting hammered and they play as big a role or bigger in doing the pollinating that is necessary for most of our food to grow.\\xa0

The researchers who discovered this set up tunnels where they \\u2018farmed\\u2019 various plants, coating the seeds with neonicotinoids and introducing bees. The results were that there were 85% fewer nests, indicating many bees were not surviving or at least no longer had the drive to build their nests. This creates a problem in that the pesticides are used to make sure enough food is being grown. Yet, the pesticides may make it impossible for the food to grow at all in the long term. This is a dilemma that needs to be solved, and the sooner the better.\\xa0

Solving the problem is something that is going to take a lot of data, data that could be acquired from farmers, beekeepers, and pesticide companies within the TARTLE data marketplace. With that data, people may be able to find a solution that protects the bees and the plants and by extension, us.\\xa0

What\\u2019s your data worth? www.tartle.co