Posted on 10/01/2008 1:47:28 PM PDT by Scythian
Pesticides are regulated yet oversight seems to be lacking in foreign countries, and to a lesser degree our own. There is so much pressure to double yields that it causes these things to happen. The fact is, the yields have to doubled because third world nations are no longer content with simple and usually incomplete diets, and that is natural and a consequence of growth. As it is with us.
More effort on the oversight and testing needs to be developed and funded. That much is obvious.
that was Degesch not Bayer.
Luckily I didn't spray everything with it, but I don't want to use it again, or if I do, only on blooms that have swarms of them, and then cut the bloom off.
I'm looking for a safer alternative. Many have been using Sevin? which is also toxic to beneficial insects. I think I'll try Pyrethrin or some other alternative.
But home gardening is nothing compared to the ag industry, plus they are making their way west and haven't hit the CA fruit orchards or grape growers but have been spotted in the Pacific NW. It's hard to predict what CA would do in an attempt to eradicate them, one can imagine, they cannot afford to lose their grape and fruit crops, also berries.
Buzzzzzzzz kill - The loss of billions of bees raises questions about our pesticide controls - LAT
I hope they can come up with something safer. The U of MI has something in the test phase for home gardeners (an innoculation on adult beetles that they spread from one to another), and there is Milky Spore for lawns, but I don't know about anything for the ag industry.
I did a lot of reading about it this summer but can't remember it all now.
My mailman told me how he went to work one morning and when he got home that night, a swarm had completely defoliated a new elm tree he had planted.
I don’t think we can use it. It is under review if my memory is correct.
You know, for a long time now we American’s have thought we’re immune to famine and plagues. Thus we’ve shaken our fists at God. I remember when Clinton gave a speech after some flood disaster in which he used scripture reference. He said: “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.”
He didn’t realize that verse in Isaiah was quoting the children of Israel who were still defiant against God despite His judgment. Or maybe he (or his speech writers)did realize that and were voicing their own defiance.
Here’s the verse with some context:
verse 9-13 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
This will be proven to be a fungus in their breathing tubes after causing pain to bayer shareholders
Go Bees :-)!!! I live on the California coastal area so the good news is we don't have any real annoying bugs like the NW. So letting insects be insects without chemical intervention is much easier.
Unfortunately, that is the extent of what can be said concerning any scientific report regarding anything environmental.
Scientists have allowed so much bad science, that it is now impossible for us little people to trust anything they put out.
Not if they don’t eat the pesticide
This is series.
..and sounds like you do also.
I observed plenty of bees this year in Colorado. Between the bees and the ants, nothing in my garden went un-pollinated. I’ve got more squash and tomatoes than I know what to do with.
Also observed plenty of bees in the wild.
So relax people.
While we should, perhaps, be questioning the wisdom of dumping these long-acting neo-nicitinoids into the environment, it’s not the end of the world.
Panic and Crisis is what the enemy wants; so Hold Fast and do not give them what they desire.
Google ‘clothianidin bees’ and you’ll find a number of others sources for this info. Clothianidin is classified as toxic to bees. The problem is that clothianidin is supposed to be applied in a way that would cause it to cling to the seeds. Depending on conditions, it doesn’t always do that, and then its toxicity to bees comes into play.
The high level of clothianidin found in nearly all the dead bees is a strong clue, regardless of the agenda of the news source.
The fact that Bayer CropScience agreed to pay $3MM for damages is also inconvenient to your anti-agenda. BCS isn’t claiming that clothianidin is not toxic or that it isn’t the proximate casue of the bee die-off. Rather they are saying that clothianidin is safe when used as directed. Those directions lead to clothianidin being used in a manner that doesn’t expose bees to clothianidin.
Accusing the news source of being agenda driven doesn’t release you of your responsibility for applying the established facts of a matter in a logical manner.
If you have an actual argument to make, make it. Accusing the news source of being agenda driven does not win the point in the absence of a rational argument.
I quit trying to do flowers and veggies I have gone to green plants and vines like jasmine and honeysuckle. They are doing OK.
Not as easily as you state. Most grains are pollinated by the wind.
There is so little science in scientific research these days that you had best take any such study with a couple of blocks of salt.
U.S. scientists determined that the die off was due to a yeast infection. Which would make more sense given that the bees are communal and I haven't seen any reports of other pollinating insects like butterflies dying off in droves.
Some people make jokes about everything. When their fruit quadriples in price they will be out for blood. The hives in my area are at 25-30% on average
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