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  • From: John Ehrlich <johnkaty AT shaw.ca>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Fwd: ] Bayer Crop Science killing bees with pesticide, Clothianidin
  • Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 12:09:18 -0700

A little more science.....

Begin forwarded message:

Date: May 31, 2012 9:33:28 AM PDT
Subject: FW: ] Bayer Crop Science killing bees with pesticide, Clothianidin

 
-----Original Message-----
From: landwatch AT npogroups.org [mailto:landwatch AT npogroups.org]On Behalf Of andy sinats
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 8:18 PM
To: *Land Watch
Cc: envirowatch
Subject: [LW:] Bayer Crop Science killing bees with pesticide, Clothianidin

Pesticides linked to bee deaths 6

Tuesday, May 29, 2012 


BURGESSVILLE - It’s not what has been confirmed worrying a Burgessville beekeeper, it’s what hasn’t been confirmed.

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

On 30-May-12, at 7:10 AM, Ministerial Correspondence – Correspondance ministérielle wrote:

This is in response to your correspondence to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board.

La présente donne suite à votre correspondance adressée au ministre de l’Agriculture et de l’Agroalimentaire et ministre de la Commission canadienne du blé.

Thank you

merci

<Signed reply QTE 174483.pdf>

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  • [Market-farming] Fwd: ] Bayer Crop Science killing bees with pesticide, Clothianidin, John Ehrlich, 05/31/2012

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