Over the past decade the Bee population has been steadily declining. Colony Collapse Disorder has been noted world wide, with no explanation until recent. some thought that the magnetic field of the earth and the Ozone layer had to do with the insects being directionally hindered by their own biological navigation systems. recently it has been found that, Acetylcholinesterase by way of external intoxicants have been the cause of these abnormal behaviors. Acetylcholinesterase is defined as: "encoded by HGNC gene ACHE; EC 3.1.1.7 is the primary cholinesterase in the body. It is an enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of acetylcholine and of some other choline esters that function as neurotransmitters". This process has been studied in relation to neonictonoids, glyphosates and atrazine, covered in source (1)
Bayers pesticide formula contains neonictonoids; "neonicotinoids, (represented as imidacloprid) cause less toxicity in birds and mammals than insects. Some breakdown products are also toxic to insects" (2) The specific neonictoinoid that Bayer produces is imidacloprid depicted in the figure below.
Monsantos pesticide formula contains Glyphosate; "Monsanto brought it (glyphosates) to market for agricultural use in 1974 under the trade name Roundup. Monsanto's last commercially relevant United States patent expired in 2000" (3) also depicted in the figure below.
In light of a recent lawsuit in which a janitor successfully sued Monsanto for claims that their product roundup caused cancer, Monsanto ultimately sold their company to save face, Bayer is the company that purchased them. It is a very fitting chain of events.Because bees are our polinators, their extinction requires human intervention to maintain the current ecosystem; something that should have never happened under any circumstance. The development of autonomous polinators to replace the mechanism implemented by the honey bees has been patented by Wal-Mart as "Systems and methods for dispensing pollen onto crops via unmanned vehicles"
Found below is information pertaining to the chemicals that Monsanto and Bayer have implemented as well as their structure and composition.
Sources
- In Québec, as observed globally, abnormally high honey bee mortality rates have been reported recently. Several potential contributing factors have be
- Glucosinolate breakdown products are volatile, therefore good candidates for insect fumigants. However, although they are insecticidal, the mode of action of such natural products is not clear. We studied the insecticidal effect of these compounds as fumigants, and monitored the production of carbon dioxide by the insects as a probe to the understanding of their mode of action. The fumigation 24-h LC50 against the house fly (Musca domestica L.) of allyl thiocyanate, allyl isothiocyanate, allyl cyanide, and l-cyano-2-hydroxy-3-butene was 0.1, 0.13, 3.66, and 6.2 μg cm-3, respectively; they were 0.55, 1.57, 2.8, and > 19.60 μg cm-3, respectively, against the lesser grain borer (Rhyzopertha dominica Fabricius). The fumigation toxicity of some of the glucosinolate products was very close to or better than that of the commercial insect fumigants such as chloropicrin (LC50: 0.08 and 1.3 μg cm-3 against M. domestica and R. dominica, respectively) and dichlorovos (LC50: < 0.02 and 0.29 μg cm-3 against M. domestica and R. dominica, respectively) in our laboratory tests. Significantly increased CO2 expiration was found in insects exposed to the vapor of allyl isothiocyanate, allyl thiocyanate and allyl isocyanate. Allyl isothiocyanate was also found to increase the CO2 expiration of the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana L.). Glucosinolate breakdown products have potential as biodegradable and safe insect fumigants. They may act on the insect respiratory system in their mode of action.