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The Threat
The Threat
Bees, the best friends to flowering plants and the people who rely on the fruits of the plants, including cherries, apples and most especially: Almonds, are in danger from pesticides, which are used to kill pests which may harm almonds, but also take a terrible toll on the bee pollinators that are vital to the productivity of the almond trees, threatening the 80% of the world's almonds, grown in California, USA.
The Literature: What We Know
The Literature: What We Know
Current research has found that there are requirements for pesticides to label if they'll affect pollinators, specifically bees , but only as a single agent; many pesticides however are applied as a cocktail (Walker, et al).
Pesticides can cause issues for bees such as longer foraging flights and less pollen collection, translating to less pollination of crops (Hesselbach et al).
Research Framework
Research Framework
The idea behind this research is to investigate almond growers' practices revolving around pest management, in particular their use of pesticides and determine what drives their use, or lack of use, of pesticides.
The Question
The Question
The question we seek to answer is: “Why do almond growers use pesticides that harm or kill bees that they rely on for their crop?”
This question needs to be addressed so that it can be determined if this is intentional or not, and what needs to change to prevent the unnecessary deaths of vital pollinators, and the protection of almond growers' livelihoods, and the food supply.
References
References
Baraibar B, Hunter MC, Schipanski ME, Hamilton A, Mortensen DA. Weed Suppression in Cover Crop Monocultures and Mixtures. Weed Science. 2018;66(1):121-133. doi:10.1017/wsc.2017.59
Brodt, S.; Zalom, F.; Krebill-Prather, R.; Bentley, W.; Pickel, C.; Connell, J., et al. (2005). Almond growers rely on pest control advisers for integrated pest management. California Agriculture, 59(4). Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7nv18954
Calderone NW (2012) Insect Pollinated Crops, Insect Pollinators and US Agriculture: Trend Analysis of Aggregate Data for the Period 1992–2009. PLOS ONE 7(5): e37235. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0037235
Decourtye, A., Devillers, J., Aupinel, P., Brun, F., Bagnis, C., Fourrier, J., & Gauthier, M. (2011). Honeybee tracking with microchips: A new methodology to measure the effects of pesticides. Ecotoxicology (London, England), 20(2), 429–437. https://doi-org.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/10.1007/s10646-011-0594-4
Durant, J. L, Goodrich, B. K, Chang, K. T, & Yoshimoto, E. (2021). Growers follow the label: An analysis of bee-toxic pesticide use in almond orchards during bloom. California Agriculture, 75(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.3733/ca2020a0030 Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5523m9zm
Durant Jennie L., Ponisio Lauren C. A Regional, Honey Bee-Centered Approach Is Needed to Incentivize Grower Adoption of Bee-Friendly Practices in the Almond Industry Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 2021, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2021.628802, 10.3389/fsufs.2021.628802, ISSN:2571-581X
Environmental Protection Agency. (2019, September 9). EPA. https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/epa-seeks-comment-process-evaluating-pesticide-synergy-ecological-risk-assessments
Haring S, Gaudin ACM, Hanson BD. Functionally diverse cover crops support ecological weed management in orchard cropping systems. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 2023;38:e54. doi:10.1017/S1742170523000492
Hesselbach H, Seeger J, Schilcher F, Ankenbrand M, Scheiner R. Chronic exposure to the pesticide flupyradifurone can lead to premature onset of foraging in honeybees Apis mellifera. J Appl Ecol. 2020; 57: 609–618. https://doi-org.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/10.1111/1365-2664.13555
Walker, E.K., Brock, G.N., Arvidson, R.S. and Johnson, R.M. (2022), Acute Toxicity of Fungicide–Insecticide–Adjuvant Combinations Applied to Almonds During Bloom on Adult Honey Bees. Environ Toxicol Chem, 41: 1042-1053. https://doi-org.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/10.1002/etc.5297
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