By HoneyColony Staff

Reports of bees dying en masse are pouring in from across the U.S. and Canada.

A staggering 80,000 bee colonies were just wiped out or damaged in California’s San Joaquin Valley. It happened after the bees pollinated groves of almond trees, which have long been sprayed with nicotine-derived pesticides called neonicotinoids, as well as with fungicides.

Regulators in Europe link these pesticides to the bees’ dying out, and studies show the increased use of neonicotinoids parallels the rise in bee deaths going back to 2005.

At the same time, the Oregon Department of Agriculture is investigating the sudden deaths of a huge horde of honeybees along a highway. And, in Ohio, beekeepers are reporting a devastating winter for honeybees, with 50 to 80 percent of all bees annihilated.

Bee are also struggling up in Canada. Dave Schuit, a beekeeper in Elmwood, Ontario, Canada bluntly points the finger at pesticides, as the Owen Sound Sun Times reports:

“The first pollen of the season has brought some frightening sights for a local beekeeper. Dead and dying bees are already showing up at his bee yards and Dave Schuit of Saugeen Country Honey in Elmwood said Friday it is a clear sign the neonicotinoid pesticides used on crop seeds are in the soil, water and plants.”

You can click here to sign a petition urging the US Environmental Protection Agency to ban neonicotinoid pesticides.

And here’s a look at the trailer for Vanishing of the Bees, which was directed by Honey Colony Founder Maryam Henein and explores the roots of colony collapse.

‘Vanishing of the Bees’ Explains What’s Making the Bees Disappear:

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• The Dangers Of Genetically Modified Corn