EPA has been a hive of activity regarding the declining bee population. The agency recently approved an organic fungicide that is to be delivered to crops via “bee vectoring”—a process by which commercially-reared bees walk through trays of pesticide powder, collecting it on their legs and fur. The bees are then released into the wild, and when they land on flowers to collect pollen, the pesticide is distributed directly to the source. It’s true! I am not pollen your leg here.
The fungicide, Clonostachys rosea strain CR-7 (also known as “Vectorite”), is aimed at protecting “high value” crops such as almonds, blueberries, strawberries and sunflowers. The fungicide’s creator, Canadian company Bee Vectoring Technology International (BVT), claims it is a “naturally occurring, non-genetically modified, unique fungus found throughout the world”—in other words, totally bee-nign.
BVT had to seek approval from EPA for this unique fungicide and distribution process. Section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) authorizes EPA to set tolerances, or maximum residue limits, for pesticide residues on foods. Without such a tolerance, food containing residue is subject to seizure by the government. EPA approved an exemption from this tolerance requirement for residues of Vectorite in August 2019, finding that it is “safe” within the meaning of FFDCA. Vectorite is the first pesticide EPA has ever allowed to be deployed by bees—a bee-utiful use of the exemption.
Here is what all the buzz is about: Vectorite may be a win-win for bees and struggling crops alike. Bumblebees have been declining at an alarming rate in the U.S. in recent years, and studies show that common chemical fungicides are responsible for at least 70% of this decline. These fungicides are traditionally applied via spraying, an imprecise method which requires more product than necessary, with the rest ending up in water sources or on land—a stinging result for the environment and bees alike. But the use of bee vectoring, a highly precise distribution method, may end up replacing the use of these traditional fungicides, thereby bolstering the declining bee population. It seems like bee vectoring is the bee’s knees and a honey of a solution!
But now for the buzz kill: some biologists believe the fungicide may prove harmful to the busy bees who deliver it. Sheila Colla, a conservation biologist at the University of York, thinks that farmers will continue to use insecticides in addition to Vectorite to combat fungal diseases. Not only that, but there is also the potential that this method will adversely affect the wild bee population. The rusty-patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis), listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act just two years ago, may very well have “[rapidly declined] because they were exposed to a novel disease from managed bees.” For more on the rusty patched bumblebee, see an earlier blog post of mine, Bumble Bee Buzzkill.
The question is, then (with apologies to Shakespeare): “to bee, or not to bee?” Even if Vectorite is not the solution to the plight of the American bumblebee, hopefully it will, at the very least, make farmers buzz off of the large-scale application of harmful chemical fungicides.
