A new long-term study on the impact of neonicotinoid in pesticides was published Aug. 16, 2016 in the journal Nature Communications (https://tinyurl.com/z4lvv5t).

In the study ("Impacts of neonicotinoid use on long-term population changes in wild bees in England") data was collected on 62 bee species in England over a period of 18 years.

The bees in the study that gathered nectar from rapeseed treated with an insecticide (neonicotinoid) "experienced much more severe (population) losses than species foraging on other plants," say the authors of the study.

The researchers state: ""?(R)?we find evidence of increased population extinction rates in response to neonicotinoid seed treatment use on oilseed rape."

The European Union banned the use of multiple neonicotinoid pesticides in 2013 over concerns of potential danger to bees. Neonicotinoids are still widely used in pesticides in the U.S.