What Happened to the Honeybees?

Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations
January 20, 2015, Belmont Media Center,Belmont MA

Chensheng (Alex) Lu, PhD, Associate Professor of Environmental Exposure Biology, Harvard School of Public Health. Environmental Exposure Lab

The widespread decimation of honeybees in the last ten years has alarmed beekeepers, farmers, health scientists and environmentalists. The phenomenon, known as colony collapse disorder (CCD), leaves hives empty of adult bees. A major suspect is the group of neonicotinoid insecticides, especially imidacloprid, which is abundant in the high-fructose corn syrup used to feed honey bees. Neonicotinoids are also used extensively on agricultural crops that require bee pollination.

Dr. Lu has led important research on these pesticides. He also works with the Boston Housing Authority, Committee for Boston Public Housing, and residents living in urban low-income public housing public health service to reduce human exposure to widely used pesticides. He is very committed to improving public awareness of these toxins and their effects on honeybees as well as humans.

Dr. Lu is an Associate Editor for Environmental Health Perspectives, one of the leading peer-review journals of environmental health, and also serves as an ad hoc reviewer for more than 30 scientific journals. Additionally, since 2004 he has served as an ad hoc member on the scientific advisory panel to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under the authority of the Federal Insecticides, Fungicides, and Rodenticides Act (FIFRA).

Pesticide Found in 70 Percent of Massachusetts Honey Samples

Study Strengthens Link between Neonicotinoids and Collapse of Honey Bee Colonies

video and articles on honeybees on Dr. Lu's website

Pesticide Tied to Bee Colony Collapse

Dr. Lu et al research on Honeybees (Colony Collapse Disorder)

Bees Restored to Health in Italy after Neonicotinoid-Free Maize Sowing

Mystery Malady Kills More Bees, Heightening Worry on Farms

Pollinators Excerpt from Sustaining Life (Aaron Bernstein)

Video: Alex Lu What Have We Learned to Protect Honeybees from CCD?

Why We Need Honeybees National Resources Defense Council

The Trouble with Neonicotinoids(summary)

The Recurring Silent Spring