According to a report that was released by Bloomberg, over 500 million bees have dropped dead in Brazil in just 3 months.
The report suggests that the leading cause of their death is caused by pesticides.
It is reported that more usage in pesticides could cause more deaths.
According to a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, nearly 75 percent of the world’s crops depend on pollination by bees.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations makes it clear that in order to secure food in the future, we need to protect bees.
The mass deaths of the bees were reported by beekeepers. In Grande do Sul, Rio, nearly 400 million dead bees were found.
Aldo Machado, the vice president of the Beekeeping Association in the Rio Grande do Sul, said that his colony was decimated within 48 hours.
Machado said some of his bees started to show signs of illness.
During an interview with Bloomberg, Machado said, “As soon as the healthy bees began clearing the dying bees out of the hives, they became contaminated. They started dying en masse.”
A lab research that was conducted concluded that the main cause of the deaths of bees in Brazil was caused by pesticides that have neonicotinoids and fipronil.
Neonicotinoids and fipronil are banned in Europe.
In the last 3 years, over 193 weedkillers and pesticides that are banned became registered in Brazil.
The banned pesticides and weedkillers were approved by the former president, Michel Temer, and current leader Jair Bolsonaro, who took office in January.
Brazil is the 44th largest user of pesticides per hectare in the world right now.
A study that was published in the Biological Conservation Journal, said that over 40 percent of insect species in the earth is currently at risk of extinction within decades unless there is an overhaul in the agriculture industry.
Environmental rights groups are now urging gardeners to do their part and let their lawns grow wild.
Wildflowers are an important source of nectars for bees and butterflies.