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  • From: Blair Christian <blair.christian AT gmail.com>
  • To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [ocba] FYI: New neonic article...
  • Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 10:05:53 -0400

For those of you interested in following the research on the Canadian
story (link via the BEE-L listserv):

Neonicotinoid insecticides have been the target of much scrutiny as
possible causes of recent declines observed in pollinator populations.
Although neonicotinoids have been implicated in honey bee pesticide
incidents, there has been little examination of incident report data.
Here we summarize honey bee incident report data obtained from the
Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).

In Canada, there were very few honey bee incidents reported 2007-2011
and data were not collected prior to 2007. In 2012, a significant
number of incidents were reported in the province of Ontario, where
exposure to neonicotinoid dust during planting of corn was suspected
to have caused the incident in up to 70% of cases. Most of these
incidents were classified as "minor" by PMRA, and only six cases were
considered "moderate" or "major". In that same year, there were over
three times as many moderate or major incidents due to older
non-neonicotinoid pesticides, involving numbers of hives or bees far
greater than those suspected to be due to neonicotinoid poisoning.

These data emphasize that, while exposure of honey bees to
neonicotinoid-contaminated dust during corn planting needs to be
mitigated, other pesticides also pose a risk. That neonicotinoids are
toxic to bees has never been debated. What is disputed is whether or
not exposure to these compounds in the field poses an unacceptable
risk to pollinators.

Based on the number of colonies showing mortality or loss as listed in
the report, 402 suffered moderate or major effects from
neonicotinoids, all of which were reported from the provinces of
Ontario and Quebec. Moderate or major effects from other pesticides
were observed in at least 3855 colonies. Over half of these incidents
were in the province of Saskatchewan and were thought to be due to
exposure to dimethoate or chlorpyrifos during foliar sprays on alfalfa
or other crops. From multiple provinces, a large number of incidents,
including lethal effects on queen bees and brood, were also attributed
to formic acid used by beekeepers during treatments for Varroa mite

Cutler, G. C., Scott‐Dupree, C. D., & Drexler, D. M. (2013). Honey
bees, neonicotinoids, and bee incident reports: the Canadian
situation. Pest Management Science.



  • [ocba] FYI: New neonic article..., Blair Christian, 07/23/2013

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