While speaking with my pool guy, who happens to be an exterminator, we got on the topic of bees and how they are disappearing, and also how I have been finding a TON of them dead floating in my pool. When taken in the context of all I have read about the problem with dying bee colonies what he told me was interesting......
(flip)
So my pool guy tells me that Termidor is a great product for ants, which is why I allowed him to treat my pool area. And trust me, the ants are GONE. Nothing worse than being around the pool and having ants. Here's how it works: The ants walk thru the chemical, unknowingly bringing it back to the colony. It then brings about an overall genetic degredation to the entire colony, thus killing all ants in your yard. Each ant literally becomes Typhoid Mary, bringing doom upon the colony. What he didn't tell me till yesterday during our bee conversation is that this newly approved chemical also does the same thing to bees. Check this out:
The active chemical constituent of Termidor is fipronil. Fipronil is highly toxic to a wide range of insects (e.g. bees and ants) and animals (e.g. lizards, frogs, fish, birds). There is increasing evidence that it is being misused to kill green ants and other native insects, which in turn are eaten by lizards or birds which are then killed as well.
Fipronil is banned in parts of Europe because of its toxicity to beneficial insects such as bees.
http://www.ecnt.org/...
But of course, in Tom Delay's America (a former exterminator for those who do not know) its LEGAL.
Learning all of this after the fact, I am troubled that I am now part of the problem. And so others can learn my mistake PLEASE RECOMMEND THIS DIARY!!! This is now THE chemical of choice for pest control companies due to its effectiveness. Understandable. But is it bringing upon the doom of the bee, an insect that is necessary for our survival?
I personally am no chemist. Most are not. But what we CAN do, as many of us have houses, is to ASK QUESTIONS and do research into the chemicals that are being used in and around our houses. I for one, will not allow Termidor to be used again. The same cannot be said of others, mostly agricultural users: (quote from same link as above)
As well as being used around houses it is also being used on citrus, grape and mango crops. It is being used in both rural and suburban areas and in ways that are not specified on the label. There are many potential harmful impacts on people and wildlife as a result of widespread and improper use of fipronil.
Some say cell phones? I dont think thats the real deal. I think we are poisoning the bee population of the world into extinction, and the chain effect described in regard to the food chain in the link (birds eat the insects, die, crows eat the birds, die, wildlife eat the crows, die.......etc....) is troubling. I admit to my sin of ignorance and now will be a missionary of spreading the word about this problem. Will you join me!!!!