The bees died due to Fipronil poisoning, said USDA.
Officials in the US have finally solved the mystery behind the death of three million bees at a California sanctuary. Experts at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) carried out an enquiry after the discovery, and found that the bee colony had been subjected to “double lethal” amount of poison, as per The Science Times. According to USDA report, the bees died because of Fipronil poisoning. The outlet said that Fipronil is an insecticide prohibited for landscape and agriculture because it causes disruptions to an insect’s central nervous system.
Though the mass deaths of the bees took place in September, USDA made its findings public this month. It is, however, not known how the bees consumed the poisonous substance.
Speaking to ABC10, bee sanctuary worker Dominic Peck pointed towards “malice”.
“We suspect malice because all nearby orchards had no reported use of Fipronil and nearby aperies did not have positioning either. It seems to be directed towards us. We cannot say that for sure, but we are moving out of the area to be safe,” he said.
Fipronil is also harmful to humans, causing sweating, nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal pain, dizziness, and seizures.
A GoFundMe page was set up for the bees, which exceeded its $10,000 goal.
“Considerable love, sweat and bee stings go into our bee rescues and their healthy rehabilitation. This poisoning event has been so devastating to experience. You can’t imagine how sad it is to not only see so many of the bees you cared for die all at once but also watching them suffering in a death spiral over multiple days. It’s heartbreaking,” the team at the sanctuary shared on the page.