This just in from Science Daily:
"ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2012) — New research has linked springtime die-offs of honeybees critical for pollinating food crops -- part of the mysterious malady called colony collapse disorder -- with technology for planting corn coated with insecticides."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
I will repeat--Since we know that NeoNicotinoid Systemic Pesticides are highly mobile in the soil, I still posit that this is also affecting indigenous ground dwelling bees such as Bumble bees and anthrophorini as well as ground dwelling wasps--many of which are considered beneficial insects for agriculture because they parasitize pests.
Here again are the links to earlier stories regarding what should be FRONT PAGE NEWS GLOBALLY!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
"Seeds of most annual crops are coated in neonicotinoid insecticides for protection after planting. All corn seed and about half of all soybean seed is treated. The coatings are sticky, and in order to keep seeds flowing freely in the vacuum systems used in planters, they are mixed with talc. Excess talc used in the process is released during planting and routine planter cleaning procedures."
In addition to potentially flying through these toxic-talc clouds, in the early spring, before adequate amounts of pollen and nectar are available, honey bees will fly on warm days and scavenge gluten from open feed bins, and they will consume this as a pollen substitute.
In fact, as a treatment--bee keepers buy pollen patties that contain gluten as a protein to help sustain honey bee colonies through the winter or through severe droughts. Here are examples of these patties: http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/...
and
http://www.globalpatties.com/
These same pesticides are also responsible for a decline in bird populations as well. http://www.independent.co.uk/...
But back to the bees:
WHY isn't this front page news?
We are reaching a critical tipping point with our honey bee die offs
http://grist.org/...
“We are inching our way toward a critical tipping point,” said Steve Ellis, secretary of the National Honey Bee Advisory Board (NHBAB) and a beekeeper for 35 years. Last year he had so many abnormal bee die-offs that he’ll qualify for disaster relief from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
If we loose our pollinators, we will have no other choice but, to embrace franken-food, or do like the Chinese do in some areas and get on a ladder with a paintbrush and hand pollinate thousands of blooms ourselves.
This is all about Target Insects. The NeoNicotinoids are killing way more than the "target Insects". These chemicals are killing our food web from the bottom up. This is at best a short term gain, that is cultivating a long term, devastating loss of an integral part of our ecosystem.
Bees don't just pollinate our food. Flowers will disappear, as well wild food sources for wild animals.
All we will have left are GMOs and some wind pollinated plants.
Even sublethal exposure needs to stop.
According to a USDA Scientist:
"The study, led by Dr Jeffrey Pettis, the head of the US Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory, says: "We believe that subtle interactions between pesticides and pathogens, such as demonstrated here, could be a major contributor to increased mortality of honey bee colonies worldwide."Researchers found that bees deliberately exposed to minute amounts of the pesticide were, on average, three times as likely to become infected when exposed to a parasite called nosema as those that had not. The findings, which have taken more than three years to be published, add weight to concern that a new group of insecticides called neonicotinoids are behind a worldwide decline in honey bees, along with habitat and food loss, by making them more susceptible to disease."
Lets pull the really important part out:
"Researchers found that bees deliberately exposed to minute amounts of the pesticide were, on average, three times as likely to become infected when exposed to a parasite called nosema as those that had not."
You can read the whole story here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/...
Once again--another story that should have been FRONT PAGE NEWS.
The bees are carrying a higher pathogen load. This runs their immune system down, but also turns what would be otherwise healthy bees into little disease incubators--flying disease vectors for other bees.
Clearly our government lacks the political will [yet again] to watch out for the best interests of the people, because it runs counter to the bottom line of big chemical companies.
This is yet another sign of our collapsing political system, another sign that our government doesn't work for us, but in fact is a plutocracy.
Fri Mar 16, 2012 at 5:58 AM PT: FINALLY, The mainstream media has picked up this new development, but failing to note that there were other studies that independently corroborate the findings--that Neonicotinoids are killing our honey bees.
http://abcnews.go.com/...
Honeybees are critical for pollinating food crops. Scientists say the disruption of pollination could dramatically affect entire ecosystems. In addition, as the researchers wrote in the study, “In view of the currently increasing crop production, and also of corn as a renewable energy source, the correct use of these insecticides within sustainable agriculture is a cause of concern.”