A beekeeper checking frames and caring for the hive. Photo by Getty Images. Over 14 million acres of Minnesota croplands such as corn and soy are planted with neonicotinoid (“neonic”) treated seeds.

In the summers of 2018 and 2019, the ecologist James Ryalls and his colleagues would go out to a field near Reading, in southern England, to stare at the insects buzzing around black-mustard plants.

Have you ever wondered why bees or butterflies flock to certain flowers, while completely ignoring others? How do our flying pollinator friends decide what plants to feast upon, and which to flutter ...