Mailing list for the Person County Beekeepers Association, Roxboro, NC

[Randall Austin <s.randall.austin AT gmail.com>]

Insecticides are supposed to kill insects. That's the whole point. With regard to applying pesticides, "the label is the law" and there are people who apply them incorrectly or irresponsibly; that's what happened in Oregon with the bumble bees. The same applies to driving a car: do it incorrectly or irresponsibly and people can die. Do we get rid of cars? No, we punish those who flaunt the laws.

It is politically correct to jump on the 'ban pesticides!' bandwagon but the fact of the matter is that modern pesticides are much safer for the environment, for applicators (humans) and for consumers than the older ones that they replaced. Substantially less is needed to be applied than in the old days and they are much more specific in their action. If the modern ones are banned, what choice is there but to go back to the older ones? Only a tiny percentage of food production in the US is "organic" so pesticides WILL be used, the only question is, which ones?

Should we blindly accept everything that is shoveled at us in the name of progress? Absolutely not. But we should also not blindly accept everything that is shoveled at us in the name of "saving the bees." Neonicotinoids are nothing but today's enviro-activist buzzword. The rhetoric surrounding them has not been substantiated by research, which is why they remain on the market, and will continue to do so until the scientific evidence supports otherwise. Our regulatory system is in great peril if "American Idol" style voting plays any role in government agricultural policy.

Randall Austin

On 8/1/2013 11:22 AM, Meredith Bennett wrote:

CAEY4cCbKF2kn0Nf4GjnPXGSju73ff053OEgjwyru0v0iUGsReA AT mail.gmail.com" type="cite">

http://org.credoaction.com/petitions/tell-congress-stop-the-pesticide-that-is-killing-bees

Reps. Earl Blumenauer and John Conyers just introduced a bill which would suspend the use of bee killing pesticides. 

If you go to the above link, you can sign the petition to restrict the use of these pesticides.  

--
- Meredith Bennett
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meredith.d.bennett AT gmail.com

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