permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

Bee Deaths Linked to Insecticides, Health Canada Data Show for Second Year
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_28411.cfm

Bee Deaths Linked to Insecticides, Health Canada Data Show for Second Year
By Alex Ballingall
The Star, September 29, 2013
Straight to the Source
<http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/09/29/bee_deaths_linked_to_insecticides_health_canada_data_show_for_second_year.html>

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<http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm>and our Canada
News page <http://www.organicconsumers.org/canada/index.cfm>.

Early results from government tests on dead bees this spring and summer
show levels of controversial pesticides are comparable with those detected
last year, when Health Canada declared a link between the seed-coating
chemicals and "unusually high" bee deaths, the Star has learned.

The news represents stronger evidence that types of neonicotinoids - a
class of insecticides that act on the nervous system - lathered on corn and
soy seeds are contributing to reported bee declines, say beekeepers and
environmentalists who want the substances banned in Canada.

"To see it happen two years consecutively in documented reports . . . is
not surprising to beekeepers," said Dan Davidson, president of the Ontario
Beekeepers' Association <http://www.ontariobee.com/>. "We knew something
was wrong for years."

The latest neonicotinoid data were collected from sites in Manitoba,
Ontario and Quebec for an ongoing study by Health Canada's Pest Management
Regulatory 
Agency<http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/branch-dirgen/pmra-arla/index-eng.php>(PMRA),
agency spokesperson Sean Upton said in an email. The preliminary
results show the presence of neonicotinoids in 75 per cent of 102 dead bee
samples examined as of Aug. 29, according to the document obtained by the
Star.

Last year, the PMRA found neonicotinoids in 70 per cent of 127 samples,
prompting the government to release a "mitigation strategy" to reduce bee
exposure to these insecticides. The report suggested bees are getting in
contact with neonicotinoids through contaminated dust emitted when
pesticide-coated corn and soy seeds are planted.
 Organic Consumers
Association<https://www.facebook.com/organicconsumers?ref=stream&hc_location=stream>
 "Early results from government tests on dead bees this spring and summer
show levels of controversial pesticides are comparable with those detected
last year, when Health Canada declared a link between the seed-coating
chemicals and "unusually high" bee deaths"

Learn more:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_28411.cfm

TAKE ACTION: Ask The Home Depot and Lowe's Home Improvement to Stop Selling
Bee-Killing Garden Plants:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/home-depot-and-lowes?source=c.u
rl&r_by=5382364