Are "human friendly" pesticides killing the bees?

"The pesticides most widely used now are among a class of nicotine-based chemicals called neonicotinoids that are designed to become an intrinsic part of the plant. They were developed in large part because they are much less toxic to humans and other mammals than previous pesticides. But in high doses, they are a neurotoxin to insects. The EPA approved the pesticides in 2003. Beekeepers are now asking the EPA to ban them.  They fear it is contributing to a worldwide die-off and the inexplicable phenomenon known as "colony collapse disorder" that is devastating honeybee hives.

 The beekeepers and others say they filed the emergency petition because they fear that the EPA's review process will deliver a verdict too late for the nation's honeybees and the farmers who rely on them.

"Seventy percent of crops -- apples, oranges, zucchini, melons, strawberries -- they all need pollinators," said Vera Krischik, an associate professor of entomology at the University of Minnesota who studies the pesticides and bees. "It's a huge issue." ... Then there are the unknown numbers of bumblebees, wasps, butterflies and other wild pollinating insects that fill the same role across the natural world."
Read more here: http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2012/04/great-news-epas-new-human-friendly.html

 via http://fkclinic.blogspot.com/
But wait, Boinky points out that the bees have almost disappeared before, and  The "new" Catholic translation for mass has put the bee back into the prayers for the Easter Vigil.