permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

[My friend Mike sent me this and I hought I would forward it to the
list for the benefit of beekeepers, permaculture practitioners and
farmers:

<>

I just read an interesting article, reprinted in the Triangle Free
Press, about the link between CCD and neonicotinoids-- magical,
"natural" insecticides being developed and marketed by Bayer
CropScience, with research & production being done right here in NC.
It's by Graham White and called The EPA, Pesticides and Bees. I can't
find it on the Web (it originally appeared in Bee Culture), but here
are some other articles on the subject:

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/exclusive-bees-facing-a-poisoned-spring-2189267.html#

http://pierreterre.com/blog/very-good-analysis-data-presesnted-mike-mccarthy-independent-link-above-graham-white

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/are_regulators_doing_enough_to_prevent_bee_die_offs/C619/L619/

What the original article described, and these above don't cover, is
the fact that nearly all the corn planted in the US has been treated
with Clothianidin and similar pesticides, the use of which was
ramrodded through by the EPA after ignoring a number of alarming
studies, and that these compounds are systemic-- that is, they can't
be washed off as they exist inside the plant itself. In
parts-per-billion quantities they induce an AIDS-like condition that
weakens bees, making them susceptible to other diseases.

These compounds even when tilled under have a half-life in the soil of
up to 19 years. So they get taken up by other crops and wild plants
long after the corn is gone.

These compounds are among approx. 66 new pesticides granted
"conditional approval" by the EPA for use on crops, despite the fact
that adequate safety studies had not been made. This approval is, of
course, conditional on there being new studies made. But new studies
are not being ordered. Meanwhile, the damage continues to spread.

One problem is that these compounds appear to be harmful at thresholds
below what can be detected. Their effects are synergistic when
combined with other pesticides or with common bee pathogens. They
behave much like the AIDS virus in humans.

Here's a very good link:

http://www.farmlandbirds.net/en/content/they%E2%80%99ve-turned-environment-experiment-%E2%80%93-and-we-are-all-experimental-subjects