A new study published Tuesday shows that pesticides known as neonicotinoids, or neonics, are likely linked to the decline of wild bee populations. Published in the Nature Communications journal, the study examines the wild bee population relative to the use of the controversial neonicotinoids in the 18-year span of 1994-2011. Researchers discovered that extinction rates for bees parallel the use of the pesticide on plants, which are found throughout the country. One of the co-authors, Dr. Nick Isaac, remarked, "The negative effects that have been reported previously do scale up to long-term, large-scale multi-species impacts that are harmful. Neonicotinoids are harmful, we can be very confident about that and our mean correlation is three times more negative for foragers than for non-foragers." The 34 species analyzed in the study saw a 10 percent population drop across the board, with five of the species seeing a decrease of 20 percent or more, and the most-impacted group seeing a 30