permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@intrex.net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [SANET-MG] Saving the Honeybee Through Organic Farming
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:13:38 -0400
From: jcummins <jcummins@UWO.CA>
To: SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU

ISIS Press Release 25/04/08
Saving the Honeybee Through Organic Farming
Professor Joe Cummins

Please submit this article to your regulator

Synergistic effects of pesticides and parasitic fungi and worsening
decline of honeybees
The decline of the honeybee attracted worldwide attention in 2007.
Investigations carried out by the Institute of Science in Society
implicated a synergistic interaction between the recent widespread use
of new pesticides (including Bt toxin from GM crops) and fungal
infections [1, 2] (Parasitic Fungus and Honeybee Decline , Parasitic
Fungi and Pesticides Act Synergistically to Kill Honeybees?, SiS 35).
Sub-lethal levels of neonicotinoid pesticides act synergistically with
parasitic fungi in killing insects pests. Fungal spores, widely used as
biocontrol agents are applied in sprays and baits, and when delivered in
suspension with sub-lethal levels of pesticides are much more effective
in killing insects. Equally, Bt biopesticides enhance the killing power
of parasitic fungi synergistically. That information was transmitted
through a written question to the European Parliament [3].

Last year’s decline was serious enough and described as “beepocalypse
now” by a news report [4]. According to the US Department of Agriculture
one mouthful in three of the foods we eat directly or indirectly depend
on pollination by honeybees [5]. Most fruit and many vegetables would
disappear from our diet along with an immediate shortage of meat due to
the loss of forage. This winters’ bee loss was 34 percent, up from the
25 percent the previous year [6].

The decline is attributed to ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’ (CCD), most
likely to be multi-factorial. The main suspects include pesticides,
parasites, viruses, radiation from cell phone transmitters [7-9]
(Mystery of Disappearing Honeybees, Requiem for the Honeybee, Mobile
Phones and Vanishing Bees, SiS 34) and even brood temperature [10]. The
impact of sub-lethal levels of pesticides on the immune system of the
bee leads to synergistic infection of the bees by fungal parasites. In
addition, the behaviour of the bees is frequently modified leading to
confusion in foraging and failure to return to the hive.

Organic farming practices that retain more natural habitats and avoid
the use of chemical pesticides should provide environments that serve as
honeybee sanctuaries from the ravages of CCD. There are scientific
studies showing that agricultural landscapes with organic crops are far
superior environments for both honey- and bumblebees [11, 12]. It would
be prudent to create organic bee sanctuaries as widely and as soon as
possible.

Fungal infections more deadly with increased carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere
With regard to the fungal parasites, it was recently shown that the
prominent fungal parasite Nosema ceranea has been a longstanding and
widespread infection of honeybees in the United States [13]. Nosema
ceranae was detected also in Canada [14]. Spores of a related parasite,
Nosema apis, was found to respond to increased carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere by enhanced germination, resulting in higher mortality of
infected bees [15]. Will global warming result in the honeybee losing
its struggle with fungal parasites?

Sub-lethal effects are the silent killers
The sub-lethal effects of insecticides go beyond the synergistic effect
of insecticides on the immune system, as they may also affect learning
and foraging competence of the honeybee, A recent study from France
showed that bees fed sub-lethal levels of Bacillus thuingiensis Cry1Ab
protein (a toxin in MON810 maize) affect food consumption and or
learning processes leading to disturbed foraging [16]. The neonicotinoid
pesticides that also affect bees in similar ways [2] are used
extensively as systemic insecticides, and frequently originate from seed
treatment. One member of that group, Imidacloprid, was tested
extensively, leading to its ban in France, Another of the neonicotinoid
pesticide, Acetamiprid, was found to impair olfactory learning in the
honeybee while the pesticide Thiamethoxam did not appear to effect bee
behaviour [17]. The regulation of insecticides should definitely be
extended to include sub-lethal behavioural impairment of the honeybees,
and those insecticides having such an effect should be banned
immediately. A risk assessment to honeybees was developed in France for
non-sprayed (seed treatment) systemic chemicals [18], though predictably
industry representatives argued that field test data should override
trials on sub-lethal effects [19]. Along those lines, industry and its
associated academics selected and reviewed 25 laboratory studies showing
that Bt toxins including Cry1Ab have no adverse effects on honeybees
[20], but the only adverse outcome considered was mortality directly due
to the pesticide, excluding learning impairments that could also result
in the bees dying. Unfortunately, regulatory agencies appear to be
similarly impaired when it comes to recognizing evidence related to
sub-lethal impairment of the bees.

Organic agriculture must be widely adopted to save the honeybee
In conclusion, sub-lethal levels of pesticides, including the Bt
biopesticides produced in genetically modified (GM) crops covering some
30 percent of the global area, disorientate the bees, making them behave
abnormally, and compromise their immunity to infections. Regulators have
allowed the widespread deployment of systemic neonicotinoid pesticides
based on assessments of lethal dose in bees of the pesticides alone,
ignoring clear evidence that sub-lethal pesticide levels act
synergistically with fungal parasites in killing insects. The honeybees
may well be succumbing to such synergistic effects. There is every
reason to eliminate the use of all pesticides that act synergistically
with parasitic fungi, and all Bt crops should be banned for the same
reason. Obviously, these problems will disappear with the widespread
adoption of organic, non-GM farming.

Presented at launch conference for Food Futures Now *Organic
*Sustainable *Fossil Fuel Free , 22 April 2007, UK Parliament,
Westminster, London

References
Cummins J. Parasitic fungus and honeybee decline Science in Society 35,
37 2007.
Cummins J. Parasitic fungi and pesticides act synergistically to kill
honeybees? Science in Society 35, 38 2007.
Hiltrud B. Collapse of honeybee colonies worldwide. Written Question to
the European Commission Science in Society 35, 39 2007.
Walsh B. Beepocalypse now? Time CNN, 13 September, 2007
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1661683,00.html
Hackett K Bee Benefits to Agriculture 2004
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/mar04/form0304.pdf
Moulton How L. Honey Collapse now worse on West Coast, April 2008
http://www.earthfiles.com/
Ho MW and Cummins J. Mystery of disappearing honeybees. Science in
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