Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 40” x  30” Date: 2008

Researchers are not sure exactly what is causing the decline of the bumble bee and colony collapse disorder (CCD). Pesticide use on crops is the prime suspect. This painting features a crop duster spewing the poison onto the fruits and vegetables, nuts, berries, and seeds that bees pollinate and a near empty and blackened hive signifying their decline.

Along the left side of the canvas are some of the many foods that we depend on the honeybee to pollinate. Industrial elements between the produce reflect the often-unnecessary mechanized and chemical processes of modern day farming. It should be noted that bees on organic farms are thriving.

Much research has shown that CCD and the worldwide decline of the bees can be linked with malnutrition and pesticides. In modern day large scale bee keeping, we take all of their honey and replace it with high fructose corn syrup. In this detail a crop duster is spraying pesticide (e.g. neonicotinoids such as imidacloprid) and the hexagonal chemical code for several pesticides appear throughout the work mimicking the honeycomb. Above, the bees are abandoning their hive.