"Pesticides are directly responsible for a massive decline in the bee population in North America and Europe, a new study out of Harvard University says.

The report, which is published in the June edition of the Bulletin of Insectology, concludes that corn, potato and soybean pesticides containing neonicotinoid chemicals are directly to blame for a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder (CCD).

Worker bees are thought to absorb trace amounts of the neonicotinoids during the pollination process before bringing those chemicals back to the hive. Eventually, the neonicotinoid buildup begins to neurologically impair the bees, causing them to abandon the hive."

Josh Elliott reports for CTV News May 10, 2014. [2]