Half a Billion Bees Dead in<br />Brazil Due to Pesticide Use.<br />Beekeepers in four of Brazil's southern<br />states have reported the deaths of over<br />500 million bees in the span of three months. .<br />According to the United Nations Food<br />and Agriculture Organization (FAO), this<br />could seriously affect food security, .<br />as 75 percent of the crops<br />in the world depend on pollination<br />by bees for yield and quality. .<br />Research conducted on the dead bees has revealed<br />that Brazil's use of pesticides are to blame, with<br />most of the bees showing traces of Fipronil. .<br />Pesticide sales in Brazil increased by 770 percent<br />between 1990 and 2016, with an additional<br />27 percent increase occurring so far in 2019. .<br />40 percent of these pesticides are<br />considered "highly toxic" and 32 percent<br />are illegal to use in the European Union.
