Posted on 10/01/2008 1:47:28 PM PDT by Scythian
(NaturalNews) German government researchers have concluded that a bestselling Bayer pesticide is responsible for the recent massive die-off of honeybees across the country's Baden-Württemberg region. In response, the government has banned an entire family of pesticides, fueling accusations that pesticides may be responsible for the current worldwide epidemic of honeybee die-offs.
Researchers found buildup of the pesticide clothianidin in the tissues of 99 percent of dead bees in Baden-Württemberg state. The German Research Center for Cultivated Plants concluded that nearly 97 percent of honeybee deaths had been caused directly by contact with the insecticide.
"It can unequivocally be concluded that a poisoning of the bees is due to the rub-off of the pesticide ingredient clothianidin from corn seeds," said the federal agricultural research agency, the Julius Kuehn Institute.
The pesticide was applied to rapeseed and sweet corn seeds along the Rhine River Valley, which borders Baden-Württemberg to the west and south.
"Beekeepers in the region started finding piles of dead bees at the entrance of hives in early May, right around the time corn seeding takes place," said Walter Haefeker, president of the European Professional Beekeepers Association.
A total of two-thirds of all bees in the entire state are believed to have been killed by the chemical.
"It's a real bee emergency," said Manfred Hederer, president of the German Professional Beekeepers' Association. "Fifty to 60 percent of the bees have died on average, and some beekeepers have lost all their hives."
Clothianidin, marketed in Europe under the brand name Poncho, is a widely used insecticide in the neonicotinoid family. Like all neonicotinoids, it is a systemic pesticide that is applied to the seeds of plants and then spreads itself throughout all plant tissues. Based on nicotine, the neonicotinoids function as neurotoxins that attack the nervous systems of insects such as honeybees.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified clothianidin as "highly toxic" to honeybees. The chemical was approved for U.S. use in 2003 and German use in 2004.
Clothianidin manufacturer Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of chemical giant Bayer, blamed the honeybee deaths on incorrect application of the pesticide. Before seeds are sprayed, a fixative should be applied to keep the poison from spreading into the rest of the environment. In the current situation, Bayer says, the fixative was not applied and clothianidin spread into the air.
But beekeepers and pesticide critics rejected this explanation, calling for Germany to follow France's footsteps in banning the chemical - and indeed, all neonicotinoids.
"We have been pointing out the risks of neonicotinoids for almost 10 years now," said Philipp Mimkes, spokesman for the Coalition Against Bayer Dangers. "This proves without a doubt that the chemicals can come into contact with bees and kill them. These pesticides shouldn't be on the market."
While stopping short of a total ban, the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety acted quickly upon release of the study data, placing a provisional ban upon all seven pesticides in the neonicotinoid family. These chemicals may not be used in Germany until the manufacturers can supply enough data to convince the government that they are safe.
The seven provisionally banned pesticides are the clothianidin-based brands Poncho and Elado; the imidacloprid-based brands Antarc, Chinook and Faibell; methiocarb-based Mesurol; and thiamethoxam-based Cruiser
Six of the seven products are made by Bayer, while Mesurol is manufactured by Syngenta.
Bayer's neonicotinoids have been blamed for killing honeybees before, most notably in France. There the company's best-selling pesticide, imidacloprid, was banned from use on sunflower seeds in 1999 after being blamed for killing off a third of the country's honeybees. In 2004, France extended the ban to sweet corn seeds. The government rejected Bayer's application for clothianidin use in France only a few months ago.
In North Dakota, a group of beekeepers is suing Bayer, alleging that imidacloprid was responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in that state in 1995. One-third of North Dakota honeybees died that year after imidacloprid was applied to rapeseed there.
Imidacloprid is marketed in France under the brand name Gaucho, but is also sold as Admire, Advantage, Confidor, Hachikusan, Kohinor, Merit, Premise, Prothor, and Winner.
Around the world, honeybee stocks are in decline, which scientists have warned could have devastating impacts on global food supplies. A total of 80 percent of world food crops are primarily or exclusively pollinated by honeybees, amounting to 130 crops and $15 billion worth of food each year in the United States alone.
Yet two million honeybee colonies have been lost in the United States in recent years, with massive dieoffs also reported across Europe and in Taiwan, where 10 million bees recently disappeared over the course of only two weeks.
"If nothing is done about it, the [British] honeybee population could be wiped out in 10 years," warned U.K. Farming Minister Lord Rooker in 2007.
While in many cases bees have actually been found dead, as in the Baden-Württemberg incident, beekeepers have been particularly alarmed by CCD, in which the bees simply vanish, leaving empty hives behind them.
Neonicotinoid pesticides have been suggested as a possible cause of CCD, with advocates of this theory noting that since the pesticide spreads through all plant tissues, bees might be exposed through the pollen of treated plants. At least one study concluded that neonicotinoids are likely to become concentrated in bee hives in high levels, transported by contaminated pollen.
A number of studies have found that in low doses, neonicotinoids produce symptoms consistent with CCD. Termites exposed to imidacloprid experienced disorientation and immune system failure, while bees exposed to low levels of the chemical experienced impaired communication, homing and foraging ability, flight activity, and olfactory discrimination and learning.
Sources for this story include: www.guardian.co.uk. pubs.acs.org, www.allheadlinenews.com.
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
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.