With bees dying at record rates, these beekeepers are protesting against German chemicals giant, Bayer, and its insecticides. We are the victims. We provide a huge service to society. Our bees pollinate（对授粉） food crops（农作物）, and this is the thanks we get. For decades, studies around the world have highlighted the dangers of certain insecticides, something Bayer was keen to hush（安静） up. They wanted to keep it secret.

  They didn't want to publicize（宣扬） something which would be damaging for the company. The aim was to stop the debate（争论） so they could carry on making（使） money. These insecticides, known as neonicotinoids, have earned billions for the company, a case of placing earnings（所得） over ethics（伦理）. What isn't normal is breaking the law, concealing（把…隐藏起来） facts. How influential（有影响的） is the Bayer Group, and did the authorities fail to exercise proper oversight（ 疏忽）? Breisgau in southwest Germany is a fertile（肥沃的） region, and home to plenty of canola and cornfields.

  Christoph Koch runs a bee farm here. He's passionate（有激情的） about what he does. His bees are like part of a family. He'd rarely experienced any problems with pesticides（杀虫剂）, until one spring day, 12 years ago. A new pest had appeared in the Rhine Valley, and was threatening（威胁） to devastate（毁坏） the cornfields. To save the harvest（收获）, the authorities allowed the large-scale（刻度） use of neonicotinoids, or neonicks as they're also known.

  I could see the farmer sowing his corn, and from one moment to the next, the bees stopped flying. It was perfect weather. The bees were out foraging（搜寻粮草）. Everything was wonderful. But as the farmer sowed his seed, everything stopped. All the bees in the air disappeared.

  The insecticide the seeds had been treated with resulted in a toxic（有毒的） dust cloud that killed 12,000 bee colonies（殖民地） in the region. More than 500 million bees suffered an agonizing death. It was the world's worst case of bee poisoning by legal means（平均值） since bee conservation（保存） began. It was very frustrating（令人沮丧的）, and very emotional（感情的）. It really got me down. It got so bad that I couldn't drive over to the beehives anymore.

  Every time I got near, I was met by this stench（恶臭） of decomposing（分解） bees. I just couldn't handle（拿） it anymore. During planting, some of the red pesticide coating（被覆） the corn seeds rubbed（擦） off and was released into the environment. So what's that that was sown? Yes, corn seeds dressed with insecticide. And what happened?

  You see this red dust? That's insecticide residue（残余） that has rubbed（擦） off the seeds. And that was released into the air during planting. And the bees died instantly（立即）. Those that passed through the dust cloud, yes. But the worst bit was that the dust settled（安排） on flowering plants.

  So the remaining bees then gathered contaminated pollen（花粉）. Rather than being sprayed onto crops like traditional pesticides, neonics are often applied in the form of a seed dressing. The seed coated with insecticide is then drilled into the ground using a seed planter. The toxins are affected from the root（根） to the entire（全部的） plant as it grows, making it immune（免疫的） to pests both in the ground and the field. The state of Baden-Württemberg investigated what had gone wrong in Briskar. To the beekeepers' amazement（惊愕）, blame（ 责备） was placed on the mechanical（机械的） seed planters.

  The Agriculture（农业） Ministry（(政府的)部） echoed（反射） Bayer's official line, saying that had the seeds been sown correctly, everything would have been fine. Neonics were nevertheless（仍然） banned for use on corn in Germany, though still permitted（允许） for other crops（农作物）. They are offered 2.2 million euros in fast-track aid（帮助）, but only on one condition for the beekeepers. In return, I shall cede all existing and future claims to compensation（补偿） to the state of Baden-Württemberg. The investigator（研究者）, the government of Baden-Württemberg, had suddenly become the mediator. The offer from Bayer was actually made via（经过） the Agriculture（农业） Department.

  Bayer and the state of Baden-Württemberg wanted to buy their way out of this. It was touted as emergency aid for the beekeepers, but they were just covering themselves. There was a real push to settle the matter quickly. They knew the bees had been poisoned. Otherwise（另外）, it would have taken a lot longer to get the money. Many of the beekeepers accepted the compensation, and Bayer was left alone.

  The ban on neonicotinoids in corn wasn't a problem, as they were still approved（赞成） for many other crops（农作物）. Between 1992 and 2017, around 3,700 tons（吨） of the agent were sold in Germany alone. Bayer and other manufacturers（制造商） like Syngenta supplied various neonicotinoids to more than 100 countries, earning billions of euros. Scientists accused（控告） the producers of making（使） money at the expense（花费） of the environment. Because studies show that neonicotinoids actually impact entire ecosystems. Dutch（荷兰的） toxicologist Hank Tenekes has spent years studying the substances sold by companies like Bayer.

  He believes neonicotinoids are the most toxic insecticides ever produced. We met Tenekes at a clinic（ 诊所） in the Netherlands（荷兰（西欧国家））. Even though he was undergoing（经历） treatment for pneumonia（[医] 肺炎） when we saw him late last year, he agreed to speak to us. Neonicotinoids are water-soluble（[化学] 可溶的） and relatively（ 相对地） mobile in the ground. So when it rains, they are easily washed into the groundwater（地下水） and runoff（径流量） water. This means they affect the whole environment and are also absorbed（吸收） by wild flowers and plants via（经过） their roots（根）.

  The entire landscape（风景） becomes toxic（有毒的） for insects, so it's fair to assume（假定） that this will result in mass（群众的） insect deaths. And if the insects disappear, the ecosystem collapses（倒塌）. That's why this is an ecological（ 生态的） Armageddon. We are destroying the whole of nature. Hank Tenekes believes that neonics are the main cause of insect deaths around the world, and that via the food chain, they're also responsible for the decline（拒绝） in the population of birds, reptiles（爬行动物） and amphibians（[脊椎] 两栖动物）. And there's evidence that they're harmful（有害的） to humans too.

  So why are these insecticides still being sold? In 2018, the European Union did at least ban three of the five neonicotinoids because of the threat（威胁） to bees. But France had already banned one product containing the toxins back in 1999. It took 19 years for the EU to catch up. So why did the French authorities act so much earlier? In Paris, we meet scientists Jean（斜纹布）-Marc Bommotat and beekeeper Henri Clamont.

  They helped instigate（鼓动） the 1999 ban. At the time, beekeepers were experiencing mysterious（神秘的） die-offs. Bommotat proved that the neonicotinoids produced by Bayer were to blame. When the results were made public and the beekeepers protested, the company was swift to respond. Very quickly, Bayer started to exert（尽(力)） pressure to get us to keep quiet. They didn't want us beekeepers causing problems.

  Bayer sued（控告） me for libel. I don't produce honey from sunflowers or canola. I was acting in my capacity（容量） as head of the National（国民） Union of Beekeepers. But they sued me as a private individual. Our lawyer defended（保卫） us, and we won. And Bayer chose not to appeal（呼吁） the ruling（裁定）.

  But I wasn't the only one. The scientists also came under pressure. The aim was to stop the debate so they could carry on making money. But the French government was also alarmed（使警觉） by the mass（群众的） bee deaths and had commissioned（委任） a study.