Neonicotinoids

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Neonicotinoids are a class of insecticide. They are an artificial form of nicotine that acts as a neurotoxin to insects. There is controversy over the role of neonicotinoids in relation to pesticide toxicity to bees and imidacloprid effects on bee population.

Following scientific study this is believed by some to account for worker bees neglecting to provide food for eggs and larvae, and for a breakdown of the bees' navigational abilities and possibly leading to what has become generally known as Colony Collapse Disorder

In 2001, the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled in favor of Syngenta when the company filed suit against Bayer to protect its patent on a class of neonicotinoid insecticides.

Neonicotinoids have been strictly limited in France since the 1990s, when they were implicated in a mass die-off of the bee population.

Germany has banned seed treatment related Neonicotinoids, May 2008, due to negative affects upon bee colonies. Bee keepers suffered a severe decline linked to the use of clothianidin in the Baden-Württemberg region of Germany, allegedly connected to a failure to apply a 'glue' agent that affixes the compound to the coats of seeds. The manufacturer maintains that without the fixative agent, the compound drifted into the environment from sown rapeseed and sweetcorn and then affected the honeybees.

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