Harvard Professor Warns, CCD is Only the First Alarm Bell from BeesHeather Callaghan Researcher and Harvard professor, Chengsheng (Alex) Lu, has been outspoken about the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides and their contribution to colony collapse disorder. Especially so, since conducting his own tests for a number of years now. But he now warns that a pollinator drop could be the least our worries at this point. That it may be a sign of things to come bees acting as the canary in the coalmine. That not only are we connected to bees through our food supply, but that the plight that so afflicts them may very well soon be our own. A lot of farmers appear to be happy with what neonicotinoids offer less pesticide use, less work. However, this is because they are treated on seeds and become a part of the plant. Unfortunately, they cannot wash off and are non-discriminating when it comes to friendly pollinators. Lu finds a vicious cycle: not only do neonicotinoids wind up in the whole part of the plant (pollen) but he finds that they show up in end products like high fructose corn syrup which is fed back to bees through unsuspecting beekeepers. (Findings like this makes one wonder what the additional implications are for human health) I wrote about his work previously here: A Harvard staff writer reported recently: Then he drops this bombshell: Thus, he finds that the honeybee is a good model organism for potential pesticide impact, as well as for potential effects across generations. He continues to recount the cascading problems like farmers having to dole out $750,000 versus the original $250,000 just to ship in extra pollinator help, which contributes to higher grocery costs. Especially disturbing is the neurological destruction in bees who hang on but they get confused, disoriented, fly to the wrong colony or abandon it. The [phrase] bee-line is no longer valid The question is do these things also apply to human health? he says. While its easy to follow the train of all the nuances of the arguments for or against pesticides or whether they cause CCD or not, one can see that a bigger problem remains brewing. Related: Heather Callaghan is a natural health blogger and food freedom activist. You can see her work atNaturalBlaze.com and selfnewsPost.com. Like at Facebook. Recent posts byHeather Callaghan: 