From VOA Learning English, this is the Environment and Science Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语环境和科学报道。
A new study says a widely-used insecticide is damaging wild bee populations. Wild bees are important, because they pollinate crops and wild plants.
一项新的研究称，一种被广泛使用的杀虫剂正在摧毁野生蜜蜂种群。野蜂非常重要，因为它们给作物和野生植物授粉。
Environmentalists in the United States and Europe say chemicals called neonicotinoids are causing a drop in the number of bees.
美国和欧洲的环保人士称，新烟碱类杀虫剂正造成蜜蜂数量下降。
These insecticides are among the most commonly-used worldwide. Farmers often use seeds treated with the insecticides.
这类杀虫剂在全球最为常用。农民们经常使用经过杀虫剂处理的种子。
The chemicals target insects that eat crops, and they do not spread beyond the field. But they do get into pollen and nectar, which is where the bees come into contact with them.
这种杀虫剂的目标是啃食作物的昆虫，它们不会扩散到农田之外。但它们会进入到花粉和花蜜之中，蜜蜂在此与杀虫剂发生接触。
Maj Rudlof is a researcher at Lund University in Sweden. She led the neonicotinoids study.
Maj Rudlof是瑞典隆德大学的一位研究员。她负责这项新烟碱类杀虫剂的研究。
She and other researchers studied bees in fields. Half of the fields were grown from seeds treated with neonicotinoids. The other half was grown with seeds that were not treated. She spoke about the results of the study in a video released by the journal Nature, which published it:
她和其他研究员研究了农田的蜜蜂。这些农田有一半种了经过新烟碱类杀虫剂处理过的种子，另一半种了未经处理的种子。她在自然杂志发布的一则视频中谈到了研究结果。
"The most dramatic result we found was that bumblebee colonies almost didn't grow at all at the treated sites compared to the controlled sites."
她说，“我们发现最引人注目的结果是，与对照组（种子未经处理）相比，种子经过处理的农田的野蜂种群基本上没有增长。”
She says there were about half as many wild bees per square meter in treated fields as in untreated ones.
她说，种子经过处理的农田每平方米的野蜂数量只有未经处理的农田的一半。
Dennis vanEngelsdorp is an entomologist, a scientist who studies insects. He works at the University of Maryland. He was not involved with the research on neonicotinoids. But, he says banning the chemicals may not be the answer. He says they are not as bad as other insecticides. He spoke to VOA on Skype.
Dennis vanEngelsdorp是一位昆虫学家。他就职于马里兰大学。他并未参与新烟碱类杀虫剂的研究。但他表示，禁止这种杀虫剂可能并非解决之道。他说，这类杀虫剂并不像其它杀虫剂一样糟糕。他通过Skype对美国之音表示：
"In many cases, (neonicotinoids) are actually the safest alternative and so by banning it, what you're doing is forcing farmers to use products that may either be just as bad or worse."
“在很多种情况下，新烟碱类杀虫剂实际上是最安全的替代品。如果将它禁用，实际上是在迫使农民使用可能同样糟糕甚至更糟糕的产品。”
He says farmers often use the chemicals too much, and that may be hurting bees. Mr. vanEngelsdorp thinks farmers might not need to stop using neonicotinoids completely. He says the chemicals should be used more sensibly, or, in other words, only when necessary.
他说，可能是农民们过量使用杀虫剂伤害了蜜蜂。VanEngelsdorp先生认为，农民们可能不必完全停止使用新烟碱类杀虫剂。他说，应该更合理地使用这些杀虫剂。或者换句话说，仅在必要时使用。
The same chemicals are thought to be linked to a problem with European honeybees – the bees kept by farmers to pollinate crops. The problem is called Colony Collapse Disorder. The worker bees from a beehive, or colony, suddenly disappear. Farmers do not see the dead bees around the hive.
同样是这种杀虫剂被认为跟欧洲蜜蜂的遇到的一个问题有关。农民们喂养这些蜜蜂用来给作物授粉。这个问题被称之为蜂群衰竭失调。来自蜂箱的工蜂突然消失，而农民们并未有在蜂巢附近看到死亡的蜜蜂。
A United States Department of Agriculture report included information about the effects of neonicotinoids. It said the chemicals make the bees more likely to become sick. The bees cannot fight the viruses that commonly affect them.
美国农业部的一份报告包含了新烟碱类杀虫剂影响的信息。该报告称，这种杀虫剂使蜜蜂更容易生病，使得这些蜜蜂无法抵抗通常影响它们的一些病毒。
I'm Marsha James.
我是玛莎·詹姆斯（Marsha James）。

本栏目视频字幕与文本并不完全对应，且视频播放缓冲时间较长，敬请谅解！