June 11, 2014
Beekeeper, or apiarist, David Hackenberg, 65, rests by the side of his truck at the end of the evening after transferring bee hives from a blueberry field near Columbia Falls, Maine. Over recent years, bees have been dying at a rate the U.S. government says is economically unsustainable. Honey bees pollinate plants that produce about a quarter of the food consumed by Americans, including apples, watermelons and beans. A lawsuit has now been filed by environmental groups in the United States seeking an injunction restricting the approval of a controversial class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, or 'neonics'. These pesticides have become a subject of scrutiny in Europe and the United States as concern has mounted that they harm honeybees and other pollinators.
