Abstract:
Honeybees are among the most prominent and important types of pollinators worldwide, with approximately thirty-five percent of world food crop production depending on honeybees and other pollinators. In the United States, the estimated value of insect pollination to agricultural production is $16 billion annually, and approximately three-fourths of that value is attributable to honeybees. The worldwide contribution of honeybees and other pollinators to global crop production for human food is valued at approximately $190 billion. Given the importance of honeybees and other bee species to food production, scientists and farmers have recently expressed concern about a possible “pollinator crisis” occurring over recent decades and have raised questions about the role neonicotinoids [nee oh-nick-oh-tin-oids] may be playing in this crisis.