So THAT'S how the bees disappeared...

The Associated Press: Swarm of bees delays Giants-Diamondbacks game:

The grounds crew came up with a sweet solution.

They smeared a combination of concession-stand lemonade and cotton candy on two utility carts and lured many of the bees away from fans and players.

I guess what's been killing the bees should have been obvious

If they need to find a healthier way to cope with all that bee stress, I suggest booze.

Apparently, neonicotinoids are "a group of toxic chemicals designed to paralyse insects by attacking their nervous systems." But, as it turns out, bees are insects too. Hmmph. And you spelled "paralyze" wrong.

Nicotine-based pesticides in widespread use by farmers are implicated in the mass deaths of bees, according to a new study by US scientists.

The authoritative, peer-reviewed research undermines the pesticide industry's long-repeated arguments that bees are not being harmed, and piles pressure on UK and US authorities to follow other countries by introducing bans on the chemicals.

Pesticide companies have been trying to protect their multi-billion pound businesses by lobbying internationally against bans on neonicotinoids, a group of toxic chemicals designed to paralyse insects by attacking their nervous systems.

Agricultural crops in Scotland, England and around the world are dosed with the chemicals to prevent insects from damaging them. But evidence has been mounting that they could be to blame for the "colony collapse disorder" that has been decimating bee populations.

The US has been losing one-third of its honeybee hives every year, while beekeepers in Europe say that more than one million bee colonies have been wiped out in France, Germany, Italy and the UK since 1994.

Although neonicotinoids have faced bans or restrictions in Germany, France, Italy and Slovenia, regulators in the UK and the US have so far accepted the industry's contention that the toxins were not poisoning bees.

But that view has now been seriously challenged by a new study from scientists at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. They found neonicotinoids in bees, in pollen, in soil and in dandelions, suggesting that bees could be contaminated in several different ways.

"We know that these insecticides are highly toxic to bees; we found them in each sample of dead and dying bees," said Christian Krupke, associate professor of entomology at Purdue and a co-author of the study. Bees also suffered from tremors, unco-ordinated movement and convulsions, which are all signs of insecticide poisoning...

This won't matter after the bees disappear... wait... yes it will

Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe

The world may be on the brink of biological disaster after news that a third of US bee colonies blah blah blah...
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bees schmees... there is nothing at all to see here (literally)

EPA Withholds Pesticide Information While Bees Die

A conservation organization has sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to release information about a pesticide linked to dramatic declines in honeybee populations. The pesticide was approved on the condition that the manufacturer study the effects of the chemical on the bee species. The EPA has received the studies but refuses to release them to the public, even though a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed.
. . .

An EPA fact sheet from 2003 states clothianidin is potentially toxic to honeybees, as well as other pollinators, though residues in nectar and pollen. Bayer maintains that clothianidin does not pose long-term risks to bees.
. . .

Existing research, as well as much anecdotal evidence, has convinced French (phokks - Ed.) and German (America-haters - Ed.) agricultural authorities to suspend use of clothianidin until evidence of its safety to bees is established. Despite having the same facts before them, the EPA has not taken similar precautions.

Instead, the EPA has repeatedly used "emergency exemption provisions" under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to approve use of clothianidin in five states. The agency has also used the emergency provisions to approve use of IMD 163 times in 26 states. These emergency exemptions are intended to allow unregistered use of pesticides for a limited time if EPA determines that an emergency condition exists. (I guess all the bees dying is not an emergency... Ed.)