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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Agriculture Report. |
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New studies have found that a chemical commonly |
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used to fight plant disease is harming honeybees. |
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Experts say the chemical may be partly |
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to blame for the widespread loss of honeybees |
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in the United States. |
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The insects are important to farmers. |
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When a honeybee lands on a flower in plant, |
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pollen sticks to its legs. |
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When the bee lands on another flower, |
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some of the pollen falls off |
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and fertilizes the second plant. |
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The act of pollination is responsible |
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for many fruits, vegetables, nuts and other crops. |
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Yet about 30 percent of honeybees in the United States |
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and other areas have died in recent years. |
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Dennis VanEngelsdorp is a researcher |
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at the University of Maryland. |
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He wants to learn why so many bees are dying. |
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"The number of colonies that die every winter |
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has been one in three. |
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So on average 30 percent of the colonies |
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have died every winter over the last six winters. |
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And that's an astronomical number." |
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His research team examined the pollen grain |
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that honeybees carried to their homes. |
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They found that the pollen contained high levels of |
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35 different pesticides, chemicals use to protect plants. |
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They also found that bees eating some fungicides of |
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biological organisms became infected |
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with a deadly micro-organism called Nosema. |
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Yet fungicides are necessary to use |
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for agricultural purposes in the United States. |
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Mike Leggett studies pesticide for the pest management |
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industry group -- CropLife America. |
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"Fungicides are used, and have been used, |
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pretty broadly, for centuries, |
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for protection of plants from plant disease." |
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He says that many of the pesticide |
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found in the pollen examined by Dennis VanEngelsdorp |
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actually protect bees from Nosema. |
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Maryland farmer and beekeeper Keith Ohlinger |
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has watched many of his bees die every winter. |
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Mr Ohlinger thinks widespread bee death |
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is result of several things happening at once. |
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But he does not feel sure |
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that pesticides are a part of the problem. |
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"What I felt it was, was a compilation of a lot of little things. |
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I didn't feel that there was probably one smoking gun. |
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But there's a division there, |
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some people feel that it is just one thing. |
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Maybe I'm just not educated enough, |
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I don't know, but my view is, |
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if you can take a bath in it, it's probably safe. |
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And I don't know many of the things |
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that they're putting out right now |
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that anybody would come out of a bath in |
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for any length of time and go, |
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'wow, that was great, I feel much better!'" |
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Honeybees are important to agriculture. |
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This makes the search for an answer to their death |
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especially urgent for Mr VanEngelsdorp's team. |
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As he knows, one in every three bites of food we eat |
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is somehow pollinated by honeybees. |
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And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English. |