Bayer and Syngenta Face Pressure Over Pesticides After Bee Study

Bayer AG and Syngenta AG face renewed pressure over their neonicotinoid farm pesticides after research funded by the companies supported accusations that the chemicals are responsible for harming bee colonies.  The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science at a time when the European Union’s executive arm is preparing to propose a ban on use of such pesticides in the countryside of the 28-nation trade bloc.Bee colony numbers tested in Hungary fell 24 percent by the spring and survival of colonies in the U.K. was "generally very low" after exposure to winter oilseed rape crops treated with Bayer CropScience’s neonicotinoid clothianidin or Syngenta’s thiamethoxam pesticides, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, author of the study, said in a statement.