Test
results released to QMI Agency this week from the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food (OMAFRA) show the majority of dead bee samples collected
during the past month include residue of a widely used corn
pesticide.
The
pesticide, Clothianidin, was found in 28 out of the 37 samples tested as of
Monday.
Hundreds of thousands of dead bees were found in piles outside
hives across the province in early May, triggering an investigation by OMAFRA,
the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Health Canada.
Samples are still being collected and testing is
continuing.
“We’re just at the beginning of solving this problem,” said John
Van Blyderveen, owner of Oxford Honey and Supplies in Burgessville.
In
the past month, about 25% of his bees have died.
On a
trip to a set of his hives located just outside of Tillsonburg last week he
found somewhere between 5,000 to 8,000 dead bees lying just outside the
entrances.
Food
is so scarce in many of the hives behind his supply store in Burgessville that
drones are being pushed outside. The bees will surely die, but Van Blyderveen
said the hive has no choice but to kick them out.
“The
sole goal of the hive is to survive. Food supplies are running low and many of
the foraging bees have already died. They have no choice at this point,” he
said.
Although a queen bee can lay as many as 2,000 larvae a day, there
are concerns numbers in the hive will not be replenished. It takes 21 days for
bees to mature.
Larvae are often being dragged out of the hive and many young bees
are dying within days of being hatched.
At
this point, he is unsure whether hives will survive or eventually collapse
completely.
Van
Blyderveen claims this year’s devastating bee-kill is the culmination of years
of problems.
He
first started to notice abnormal bee losses about seven years ago – two years
after potato farmers in Ontario started using pesticides in the same family of
Clothianidin.
The
group of pesticides – called neonicotinoids – is chemically related to
nicotine and target the central nervous system of insects.
The
pesticide is often waxed onto the seeds, meaning in many cases it grows into
the food, Van Blyderveen said.
“Health Canada says to wash your fruits and vegetables to get this
stuff off, but you can wash all you want when it’s grown in the food, you
can’t get it out,” he said. “I think when the general public understands what
the chemistry really is they are going to be upset.”
Although Van Blyderveen is relieved something is finally being done
about the abnormal bee deaths, he worries those in a position of power will be
shortsighted.
“If
they just ban just that particular pesticide (Clothianidin) that is showing up
in testing, the companies will just find another killing agent, and there’s 22
different formulations of this stuff being used,” he said. “It is a complex
and frustrating thing. I do sympathize with the corn industry if they can’t
use this product then they are going to suffer lower yields.”
The
Sentinel-Review contacted agencies involved in the testing and were forwarded
to the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency of Health Canada. Calls were not
returned by press time Tuesday.
An
Agricultural Ministry spokesperson did tell the QMI Agency that, given the
large number of potential factors involved in the bee deaths, Health Canada
has not drawn conclusions at this stage. Screening for additional pesticides
is still to be done and other factors relating to overall bee health are being
examined.
Clothianidin was banned in Germany after widespread honey bee
deaths, and there is a campaign by U.S. beekeepers and environmental groups to
have it banned there.
tara.bowie AT sunmedia.ca