Bayer Knew Pesticide Killed Bees, Critics Charge

A German prosecutor is investigating allegations that chemical giant Bayer CropScience knowingly sold a pesticide that kills honeybees, the Raleigh News & Observer reports. The investigation follows complaints from German beekeepers and environmentalists that the company covered up incriminating data on chlothianidine. In the US, meanwhile, an environmental group sued the EPA last week to release its data on the pesticide.

A German study earlier this year blamed chlothianidine for playing a role in colony collapse disorder, a mysterious phenomenon that has led to a precipitous drop in honeybees around the world. "We're suspecting that Bayer submitted flawed studies to play down the risks of pesticide residues in treated plants," a spokesperson for a German anti-Bayer group says. (More honeybees stories.)