The newest threat to our survival as a species comes from the alarming losses to our bee population. Bees are necessary to pollinate much of our ecosystem. However, since 2006-2007, an alarming disorder known as Colony Collapse Disorder, in which entire colonies of worker bees mysteriously disappear, has devastated the beekeeping industry. We cannot pinpoint the cause of CCD to pesticides; it is normally caused by a complexity of factors. For instance:
In 2008, Germany revoked the registration of the neonicotinoid clothianidin for use on seed corn after an incident that resulted in the die-off of hundreds of nearby honey bees colonies. Investigation into the incident revealed that the die-off was caused by a combination of factors, including the failure to use a polymer seed coating known as a "sticker": weather conditions that resulted in late planting of corn while nearby canola crops were in bloom, attracting honey bees; use of a particular type of air-driven equipment used to sow the seeds, which blew clothianidin-laden dust off the seeds and into the air as the seeds were ejected from the machine into the ground; dry and windy conditions at the time of planting, which blew the dust into the nearby canola fields where honey bees were foraging; and a higher application rate than had been authorized was used to treat for a severe root worm infestation.
Several studies that reported a negative impact on honey bees by neonicotinoids relied on large, unrealistic doses and gave bees no other choice for pollen, and therefore did not reflect risk to honey bees under real world conditions. Nor have the studies demonstrated a direct connection or correlation to CCD.
There have been scientific findings that imply that neonicotinoids have sublethal effects on honey bees at approved doses and exposures. ARS scientists and other researchers are looking into whether such sublethal effects may correlate with CCD or other bee health problems and whether they could be a contributing cause of CCD.
We do know that pesticides have contributed to the alarming decline in our bee populations. For instance, the USDA (from the above link) recommends:
The best action the public can take to improve honey bee survival is not to use pesticides indiscriminately. In particular, the public should avoid applying pesticides during mid-day hours, when honey bees are most likely to be out foraging for nectar and pollen on flowering plants.
So, while we cannot pinpoint a certain pesticide as the cause of CCD, and while CCD is in the news a lot, there are a lot of threats to our bee population. Snopes believes that
neonicotinoid pesticides are a likely cause in Canada.
The culprit behind the devastating bee deaths in Canada is believed to be neonicotinoid pesticides:
What seems to be deadly to bees is that the neonicotinoid pesticides are coating corn seed and with the use of new air seeders, are blowing the pesticide dust into the air when planted.
While the idea that GMO corn is causing millions of bees to perish around the world is intriguing, it is also unproven. The same could be said for neonicotinoid pesticides, of course, but the evidence is starting to tip towards the latter. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), an arm of Health Canada that regulates pesticides, investigated the bee death incident in Ontario and found that neonicotinoids were likely to blame:
In the spring and summer of 2012, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) received a significant number of honey bee mortality reports from the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario. A portion of these mortalities were determined to be associated with spray drift, however, an unusually high number of reports of honey bee mortalities were received from beekeepers in corn growing regions of Ontario and Quebec. The majority of reports were from southern Ontario, involving over 40 beekeepers and 240 different bee yard locations. Additionally, one report was received from Quebec involving eight bee yards. Timing and location of these honey bee mortalities appeared to coincide with planting corn seed treated with insecticides.
The information evaluated suggests that planting of corn seeds treated with the nitro guanidine insecticides clothianidin and/or thiamethoxam contributed to the majority of the bee mortalities that occurred in corn growing regions of Ontario and Quebec in Spring 2012. The likely route of exposure was insecticide contaminated dust generated during the planting of treated corn seed. The unusual weather conditions in the spring of 2012 were likely also a contributing factor.
Recently, there has been an alarming increase in
bee deaths in the US during summer.
The Associated Press reported that the study’s entomologists were “shocked” when they noticed bees were dying more in the summer than the winter for the first time. Study co-author Dennis vanEngelsdorp of the University of Maryland told the news organization that seeing massive colony losses in summer is like seeing “a higher rate of flu deaths in the summer than winter. You just don’t expect colonies to die at this rate in the summer.”
I propose that we levy an excise tax on pesticides, similar to what we do for tobacco and alcohol and what we could do for pot. If you are going to put pesticides on crops, the least you could do is offset the damage that your pesticides cause to the bee population. I furthermore propose to take the proceeds from the excise tax on pesticides and use them to replenish our bee population. Specifically, we should:
--Pay a stipend to anyone who wants to host bee colonies on their property (similar to what we do with landowners who have wind generators on their farm, for instance). In return, an experienced beekeeper would have access rights to monitor and maintain the bee colonies. The landowner or homeowner would have the right to harvest the honey for their own use or sell for profit. If a landowner is already an experienced beekeeper, they could maintain their own colonies.
--Establish grant programs for anyone wishing to start beekeeping;
--Help established beekeepers recover from massive colony losses;
--Increase funding for research related to the preservation of our bee colonies.
While the scientists and politicians are throwing up their hands in helplessness at the scope of the problem, the real solution involves changing the way that we do business. The root cause of the decline of our bee colonies and a whole host of other problems is that we have created a debt-based economy in which we are forced to work just to keep up on our debts. If we are to make headway against the problems that we face today, we have to junk our debt-based economy and replace it with one based on sharing. Everybody would benefit and we would all play a part in restoring the environment that we have so wantonly destroyed over the last few hundred years.