More: A million or more petitioners asked the EPA to suspend the use of clothianidin a neonicotinoid pesticide that harms bees. EPA granted conditional registration of the chemical in 2003, but petitioners say EPA has ignored evidence that its use poses significant risks to honeybees. Clothianidin is a systemic pesticide that permeates a plant's flowers and leaves, leaving residues in nectar and pollen which is then eaten by young bees. The doses are sub-lethal but scientists are concerned about the effects of chronic exposure. Scientists studying colony collapse disorder have tested samples of pollen and are finding a broad range of man-made substances including insecticides, fungicides and herbicides that are impairing honeybees' ability to forage and navigate. The profit zombies will deny until the last honeybee disappears; this is a Rachel Carson moment that requires immediate
action.
{04.04.12} US Person has posted before about the impact of systemic chemicals on
{honeybees} which contributes to sudden colony collapse syndrome. Two new studies published in
Science confirm the pernicious effect of the class of pesticides known as neonicotinides. The pesticides are widely used on flowering crops. Because of its effect on bees, Italy Germany and France have banned the pesticide. The University of Stirling study concludes there is an urgent need to use alternatives whenever possible. As in the US, British bees are big contributors to pollination of food crops; the value of their services is estimated at £200 million pounds just in the UK; worldwide that figure is £128bn annually. In 2010 88 million acres of corn and 53 million acres of wheat growing in the US were treated with the long lasting, systemic chemicals that affect the bees' nervous systems. Last year the US Department of Agriculture completed a study showing bees dosed with neonicotinoids are much more susceptible to disease. The results of that study were published only two months ago.
The Stirling study found that doses at levels expected in the field of imidacloprid, a common neonicotinoid, reduced the production of bumble bee queen bees critical to survival by a drastic 85% compared to control colonies. Such mortality rates can cause colonies to collapse. Queen bumble bees are the only survivors of winter since they hibernate in their underground hives. They begin producing new workers in the spring. A French study by the National Institute for Agronomic Research looked at another neonicotinoid, thiamethoxam, and its affect on honey bees. The sub-lethal dosing affected the bees' homing abilities to such an extent that mortality was increased by two to three times. The French study used very high tech to achieve results by gluing tiny radio frequency transmitters to the thorax of their study subjects. Despite three peer-reviewed studies showing the lethal effect of neonicotinoids, Bayer CropScience, the leading maker of the chemicals refutes the conclusions reached. A spokesman called the research "inconsistent with earlier results". Beekeepers working with the Center for Food Safety have filed a petition asking the EPA to ban the pesticide clothianidin.
