Pesticide Safety

Pesticide use poses additional challenges. Over 120 pesticides and their metabolites have been detected in hive matrices, raising concerns about their impact on honey bee health. Neonicotinoids, a controversial pesticide class, have faced provisional bans in the UK and scrutiny in the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reevaluating neonicotinoid pesticides while California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) has developed pollinator protection measures and eliminated many uses of neonicinoids, particularly when bloom is present in crops.

The EPA has improved its methods for assessing pesticide risks to bees and the California Department Pesticide Regulation published a Pollinator Protection Plan in 2018. The University of California IPM Bee Precaution Pesticide Ratings database helps stakeholders select less harmful pesticides.

In California, a program known as BeeWhere, requires all beekeepers providing pollination services in the state to register and plot the location of their beehives using a GPS tracking system. This allows beekeepers to receive timely notifications whenever a pesticide application is scheduled to take place within a one-mile radius of their hives.