Amid the continuing decline of pollinators worldwide, U.S. lawmakers recently revived a perennially struggling bill that aims to save these helpful species. However, pollinator loss is more complicated than many headlines suggest. And curbing it, some scientists say, requires more than just stricter pesticide regulation—a major focus of the bill.
This is the fifth iteration of the Save America’s Pollinators Act, which was introduced by Democratic Representatives Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and John Conyers Jr. of Michigan in 2013 but has never been put to a vote.
The bill … appears unlikely to address the paucity of data on environmental threats to other wild pollinators—such as moths, butterflies, beetles, flies, wasps and bats.
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In response to [neonicotinoid] pesticides, bees routinely develop impaired immune systems and become more susceptible to pathogens such as Nosema and deformed wing virus. But field studies, which have many more variables, suggest neonicotinoids have far milder effects on honeybees.
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[University of Illinois entomologist May] Berenbaum says the legislation will not fix problems she thinks far outstrip neonicotinoids, varroa and disease—namely climate change, habitat loss and the diminishing diversity of forage that pollinators have access to …. “There’s a natural human tendency to focus on what’s immediately fixable,” she says.Read full, original article: New Law Would Help Bees—but Could Leave Other Pollinators out in the Cold
