The Ontario government plans to restrict the use of a class of agricultural pesticides linked to the widespread declines in honeybees and other pollinators.
The move is opposed by the province’s chemical and agriculture industries, which say neonicotinoid pesticides are vital tools that growers of corn and soybeans use to protect their harvests from yield-destroying insects.
The pesticide, which renders plants toxic to pests, has been blamed for the deaths of honeybees and other beneficial insects that are responsible for pollinating one-third of the food we eat.
Photo: “The Mystery of the Dead Bees” by Reader of the Pack under the license CC BY-ND 2.0