Science > Environmental Issues
Pesticides killing bees
treesparrow:
--- Quote ---Pesticides blamed for bee decline
New formulas make colonies more prone to disease, research finds. Jonathan Owen reports
Jonathan Owen Sunday 29 January 2012
Compelling new evidence from the US government's top bee expert that modern pesticides may be a major cause of collapsing bee populations led to calls yesterday for the chemicals to be banned.
A study published in the current issue of the German science journal Naturwissenschaften, reveals how bees given minute doses of the widely used pesticide imidacloprid became more vulnerable to infections from a deadly parasite, nosema.
Bee experts described this as clear evidence of the role pesticides play in the plight of bees. Although research into the furry insects may seem like a very academic exercise, bees are vital to human survival. More than 70 of the 100 crops that provide 90 per cent of the world's food are pollinated by bees, and Albert Einstein once predicted that if bees died out, "man would have no more than four years to live."
The study, led by Dr Jeffrey Pettis, the head of the US Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory, says: "We believe that subtle interactions between pesticides and pathogens, such as demonstrated here, could be a major contributor to increased mortality of honey bee colonies worldwide."
Researchers found that bees deliberately exposed to minute amounts of the pesticide were, on average, three times as likely to become infected when exposed to a parasite called nosema as those that had not. The findings, which have taken more than three years to be published, add weight to concern that a new group of insecticides called neonicotinoids are behind a worldwide decline in honey bees, along with habitat and food loss, by making them more susceptible to disease.
Buglife, the invertebrate conservation charity, is calling for a ban on the controversial pesticides. Its director, Matt Shardlow, said yesterday: "The science is now clear, bees poisoned by neonicotinoid pesticides are much more likely to die from disease, gather less food and produce fewer new bees." He added: "Buglife's 2009 review of the science of environmental impacts from neonicotinoid pesticides showed that there was serious cause for concern. We called for a ban then, and as subsequent research has only added to concerns, including the revelation that neonicotinoids make bees prone to a diseased death, we are repeating our call for these toxins to be banned."
The Government needs to take urgent action, said Tim Lovett, of the British Beekeepers Association. He backs the findings of the new research: "Their conclusions are right ... here is some data that would appear to suggest links between widely used pesticides and pathogens."
Imidacloprid is the bestselling neonicotinoid made by Bayer CropScience, earning the company hundreds of millions of pounds a year. Neonicotinoids are "systemic" pesticides. Instead of spraying plants they are used to treat seeds – effectively becoming part of the plant, including the pollen and nectar that bees and other pollinating insects carry away. Concern over their effects on bees has led to restrictions on their use in Germany, Italy, France, and Slovenia.
Dr Julian Little, a spokesman for Bayer CropScience, sought to dismiss the new findings yesterday: "The key issue here is that Jeff Pettis's studies were carried out in the laboratory and not the open air." He added: "Bee health is really important, but focusing on pesticides diverts attention away from the very real issues of bee parasites and diseases – that is where Bayer is focusing its effort."
But Professor Simon Potts, of the Centre for Agri-Environmental Research at the University of Reading, disagrees: "Most reports of direct impacts of pesticides on bee mortality are usually due to the incorrect application of pesticides on farmland,," he said. "However, the Pettis study should be taken as a warning that we may need to look much more carefully at the indirect effect of pesticides."
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_http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/pesticides-blamed-for-bee-decline-6296322.html
Potamus:
I met a woman very conversant on this topic last week. She said some things I had not heard before. She defined the crisis as "the perfect storm," combining four of the main corporate forces into one crisis with them pointing fingers at each other:
1. dosing hives with antibiotics to improve their winter survival rate, mainly tetracycline. That's pharma.
2. feeding bees corn syrup to reduce their consumption of their own honey. That's GMO.
3. pesticides (described in this thread). That's agri-business.
4. cel-phone signals causing many bees to lose their way back to the hive. That's big telecom.
Now to try and understand what/if this all means!
voyageur:
--- Quote from: Potamus on October 10, 2012, 04:36:46 AM ---I met a woman very conversant on this topic last week. She said some things I had not heard before. She defined the crisis as "the perfect storm," combining four of the main corporate forces into one crisis with them pointing fingers at each other:
1. dosing hives with antibiotics to improve their winter survival rate, mainly tetracycline. That's pharma.
2. feeding bees corn syrup to reduce their consumption of their own honey. That's GMO.
3. pesticides (described in this thread). That's agri-business.
4. cel-phone signals causing many bees to lose their way back to the hive. That's big telecom.
Now to try and understand what/if this all means!
--- End quote ---
Hmmm, made me think about Japan's PTB moving toxic waste around the island to pollute control groups comparisons. With bees and all the various possible causation's, fingers would and are being pointed in all directions. Studies, as we see, are all over the place. Thing is it seems, anyone of those four points cited likely has its own singular effect and while pointing to these singular matters, it remains business as usual until proven empirical that one over the other is the root cause.
treesparrow:
--- Quote ---2013 may be worst year for bees, say beekeepers.
January 26, 2013 – ENVIRONMENT - “We’re facing the extinction of a species.” That’s what one Midwest-based large-scale commercial beekeeper told me last week at the annual gathering of the American Honey Producers Association (AHPA). And he meant it. Bee losses have been dramatic, especially in recent years. And beekeepers are feeling the sting. According to many who manage hives, commercial beekeeping won’t pencil out in the future unless things change, and soon. Beekeepers from across the country gathered in San Diego in mid January to swap stories and share best practices in the trade, as well as to learn more about the latest research on declines in bee populations (often referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder). Independent science continues to point to pesticides as one of the critical co-factors in bee losses — alongside nutrition and disease — and beekeepers continue to see major declines. And these losses parallel the ongoing increase in pesticide products used on seeds and in fields across the country. As one beekeeper told me, “On average, 40% over-wintering losses across the country. That’s what we’re facing. And my losses are closer to 70% — this is likely gonna be the worst year for bees.” But it isn’t just this year; USDA reports major bee population declines since 2006. Another beekeeper told me he lost over $250,000 in honey business last year alone, and he’s no longer pollinating melon and cherries. As he reminded me, this not only has direct impacts on him, but his employees, their communities, suppliers, vendors, the food system and agricultural economy. With on pesticides were more common than ever at this annual AHPA conference, as evidence mounts showing pesticides to be a key catalyst in bee declines. And representatives from chemical giants like Arysta, Bayer and Monsanto made their presence known, even hosting workshops to pacify concerned beekeepers. These corporations have a lot at stake. With the market becoming increasingly consolidated, just a few companies manufacture many of the same seeds and pesticides implicated in honey bee losses. If history is any guide, these corporations will likely continue to object to finding healthy, sustainable and commonsense solutions to bee declines. Some beekeepers have taken matters into their own hands, forming the National Pollinator Defense Fund. With a commitment to protecting bees and their livelihood, this new band of beekeepers will “defend managed and native pollinators vital to a sustainable and affordable food supply from the adverse impacts of pesticides.”
--- End quote ---
_http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/2013-may-be-worst-years-for-bees-say-beekeepers/
voyageur:
--- Quote from: treesparrow on January 27, 2013, 03:13:34 PM ---
--- Quote ---2013 may be worst year for bees, say beekeepers.
[...]
--- End quote ---
--- End quote ---
I know it is bad out there, however, in an opposite direction, a local man who's parents own and operate a commercial operation in Saskatchewan, who i ask questions about; and they had a large die-off prior and had to repopulate many of their hives, said that 2012 had been an excellent year, one of their best. Their operation however has pollen coming in from Alfalfa and some of it from Canola (likely gmo).
i'll keep listening in on how they are doing, and how the bees fared over the winter.
Mod's note: Edited to fix quotation boxes.
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