1994:
"Immadicloprid first registered for use in the United States. Beyond Pesticides.org: EPA initiates review for pesticide linked to honey bee decline. “Imidacloprid has been linked to sublethal effects in honeybees, which include disruptions in mobility, navigation, and feeding behavior. Lethal and sublethal exposures to imidacloprid have been shown to decrease foraging activity, along with olfactory learning performance and decrease hive activity. Bees are exposed when they pollinate flowering crops treated with imidacloprid, or pesticide drift (via wind) from surrounding areas. The rapid disappearance of the honeybees, also dubbed “Colony Collapse Disorder” or CCD, has been observed in the U.S. since 2006.”
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/...
1994: The Scotsman: Mad Bee Disease Hits French Honey Harvest. Gaucho is first used in France, Beeks there report immediate change in behaviors in bees. http://groups.yahoo.com/...
1995: Guardian UK: Germany Bans Chemicals Linked to Honey Bee Devastation:
“In the United States, a group of beekeepers from North Dakota is taking the company to court after losing thousands of honeybee colonies in 1995, during a period when oilseed rape in the area was treated with imidacloprid. A third of honeybees were killed by what has since been dubbed colony collapse disorder.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
1996: The Forgotten Pollinators by Stephen L. Buckman and Gary Paul Nabhan (c) 1996. pp xvi
"If the last pollinator specieis adapted to a plant is erased by pesticides, or habitat disturbance, the plant will soon follow. And as these and other populations decline or disappear, the consequences spread through the remainder of the food net, weaking other interspecific relationships."
and pp12,
"Along our migratory route from the United States to Mexico and back, we have compiled a surprisingly large body of evidence documenting disrupted interactions between plants and pollinators, the diminished seed set being found amoung rare plants and commercial crops, and the decline in population sizes of animal pollinators...After all, one in every three mouthfuls you swallow is prepared from plants pollinated by animals."
1996- 1999: The Scotsman: Mad Bee Disease Hits French Honey Harvest.
“The National Union of French Beekeepers (UNAF) reported that national honey production fell to around 25,000 tonnes in 1999 from 35,000 tonnes before systemic pesticides were introduced in the early 1990s. The number of hives has plummeted to one million from 1.45 million in 1996.”
Sunflowers, Wheat, Barley, Maize, and Sugar Beets are treated with NeoNicotinoid Systemic Pesticides see Gaucho.
http://groups.yahoo.com/...
1999: France Bans use of NeoNicotinoids on Sunflowers due to mass bee deaths. http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
1999: Guardian UK: Germany Bans Chemicals Linked to Honey Bee Devastation: Bayer's best selling pesticide, imidacloprid, sold under the name Gaucho in France, has been banned as a seed dressing for sunflowers in that country since 1999, after a third of French honeybees died following its widespread use. http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
1999: CNN: Money.
“In 1999, France banned Imidacloprid after the death of a third of its honeybees. A subsequent report prepared for the French agricultural ministry found that even tiny sublethal amounts could disorient bees, diminish their foraging activities, and thus endanger the entire colony. Other countries, including Italy, have banned certain neonicotinoids.”
http://money.cnn.com/...
Feb 7, 2001: The Scotsman: Mad Bee Disease Hit’s French Honey Harvest:
“Only bees collecting nectar from sunflowers appear to be affected and environmentalists are pointing the finger at a systemic pesticide, Gaucho.Yesterday the government ordered a two-year extension of a ban on using
Gaucho on sunflower seeds, to allow more study of its impact on bees.
Gaucho is used to coat seeds before sowing and moves through the plant via
the sap. It is based on imidaclopride, a chemical that acts on the nervous
systems of a wide variety of pests, including wireworm and aphids.”
What is really sick here, is that All bees are highly attracted to Sunflowers as sources of pollen and nectar. More than likely a lot more than just honey bees were decimated. I wonder if they had a sharp decline in ground dwelling bees during that time as well? Bayer Sells Gaucho to 70 countries. That would explain the “Global” decline in Honey Bee Die Offs! And probably much much more! Story found as a reprint in a yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/...
Feb 20, 2003: Clothianidin is approved for use in American Crops by EPA even though EPA internal documents reveal that it is *highly toxic to bees. This document wouldn’t be leaked until 2010—7 years later, and 3 years into the American Colony Collapse Disaster. Via Fast Company Dec 2010: http://www.fastcompany.com/...
“Clothianidin’s major risk concern is to nontarget insects (that is, honey bees). Clothianidin is a neonicotinoid insecticide that is both persistent and systemic. Acute toxicity studies to honey bees show that clothianidin is highly toxic on both a contact and an oral basis. Although EFED does not conduct RQ based risk assessments on non-target insects, information from standard tests and field studies, as well as incident reports involving other neonicotinoids insecticides (e.g., imidacloprid) suggest the potential for long-term toxic risk to honey bees and other beneficial insects…This compound is toxic to honey bees. The persistence of residues and potential residual toxicity of Clothianidin in nectar and pollen suggests the possibility of chronic toxic risk to honey bee larvae and the eventual instability of the hive.”
http://www.panna.org/...
And
http://www.panna.org/...
The report addressed Honey Bee and other pollinators as potential collateral damage as affected nontarget insects. So far no report addresses the potential lethality in contaminated soils with regard to ground dwelling bees such as Bumble Bees and Digger Bees. See Science Daily article on Bumble Bee Decline: http://www.sciencedaily.com/... Considering the collapse in all pollinator populations, this might be another avenue of study. This substance is also toxic to birds and mammals. I am also unaware of any studies on the effects on bats, either as pollinators or as insectivores that might eat contaminated insects or visit contaminated pollen or nectar sources.
2003: France bans use of NeoNicotinoids as Sweet Corn Treatment after more mass bee deaths. http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
For more Timeline, go below the squiggle
2003: Cnn Money: What a Scientist Didn’t Tell the New York Times About His Study on Bee Deaths:
“As for the Bayer-Bromenshenk connection, in 2003 a group of 13 North Dakota beekeepers brought a class-action lawsuit against Bayer, alleging that the company's neonicotinoid, Imidacloprid, which had been used in nearby fields, was responsible for the loss of more than 60% of their hives. "My bees were getting drunk," Chris Charles, a beekeeper in Carrington, N.D., and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, told me in 2008. "They couldn't walk a white line anymore -- they just hung around outside the hive. They couldn't work." Charles and the other North Dakota beekeepers hired Bromenshenk as an expert witness. Bayer did not dispute that Imidacloprid was found among the bees and their hives. The company simply argued that the amount had not been enough to kill them.”
http://money.cnn.com/...
April 2003: EPA Reconsider’s Bayer’s application, allows conditional registration of Clondiathin contigent upon field study. According to the Pan Pesticide Network, the study was not to be completed until Dec of 2004, but the product goes on the market in Spring of 2003.
http://www.panna.org/...
2004: Guardian UK: Germany Bans Chemicals Linked Honeybee Devastation: Mass Bee Deaths in France are blamed on the use of Clondiathin on Sweet Corn as a pesticide treatment. http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
2004 Feb 28: Guardian UK: Pesticide Accused of Killing 90bn Bees. Systemic Pesticides from the NeoNicotinoid family are named by brand and manufacturer.
"The pesticide - sold under a variety of names including Regent TS, Gaucho, Shuss, Jumper and Zoom - attacks insects by destroying their sense of direction and should disappear as the treated plants grow. But almost immediately after the chemicals were introduced 10 years ago, beekeepers reported that their bees were becoming disoriented and dying, Within a few years honey production in south-west France fell by 60 per cent. According to the chairman of the national beekeepers' association, Jean-Marie Sirvins, a third of the country's 1.5 million registered hives disappeared. As a result, France has had to import up to 24,000 tons of honey annually."
Bayer and other manufacturers claim this is solely due to disease. Studies would later show that bees exposed to sublethal doses of these chemicals carried a higher pathogen load, meaning they were more likely to be diseased due to a chemically suppressed immune system. Cases were also filed regarding these chemicals by plaintiffs who claimed these pesticides cause cancer in humans.
March 2004: Bayer requests and receives an extension for the study that was to be completed on corn in Dec of 2004. The study is done on Canola in Canada instead of corn in the US. The desire by scientists to use Corn Pollen was due to the fact that it had been the cause of mass bee deaths before due to the use of *encapsulated parathion [see these links to explain encapsulated parathion--scary stuff : http://www.nogw.com/... and http://www.epa.gov/... ].
Source Cited:
http://www.panna.org/...
Feb 2006: Wikipedia: White Nose Syndrome: White Nose Syndrome is discovered in Schoharie County New York. Go to this link to see a map of the outbreak: http://www.caves.org/...
Source Cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/...
What does WNS have to do with CCD? Bats are pollinators. And they are Insectivores who eat other pollinators such as moths and mosquitoes. So their exposure rate to pesticides would always be high. The fact that this fungal disease is hitting at the height of the CCD insanity seems more than a little convenient to me. Fungal infections in mammals are generally opportunistic in nature. Meaning it is rare that a fungus causes the primary illness. Fungal Infections are usually a symptom of a suppressed immune system--like Nosema in bees.
Feb 12, 2007: Alternet: US Bee Colonies Decimated by Mysterious Ailment via Reuters.
“Beekeepers in 22 states have reported losses of up to 80 percent of their colonies in recent weeks, leaving many unable to rent the bees to farmers of crops such as almonds and, later in the year, apples and blueberries.”
The Scientist that is quoted in this story, Bromenshenk, works for Bayer the manufacturer of NeoNicotinoids. The lack of a mention of pesticides at all in this story is telling.
http://groups.yahoo.com/...
March 1, 2007: The Independent [UK] Species Under Threat! Honey Who Shrunk the Bee Population?
“The phenomenon is recent, dating back to autumn, when beekeepers along the east coast of the US started to notice the die-offs. It was given the name of fall dwindle disease, but now it has been renamed to reflect better its dramatic nature, and is known as colony collapse disorder.”
Time to cross reference this with Clondiathin Treated Seed usage and planting dates/location.
“It is swift in its effect. Over the course of a week the majority of the bees in an affected colony will flee the hive and disappear, going off to die elsewhere. The few remaining insects are then found to be enormously diseased - they have a "tremendous pathogen load", the scientists say. But why? No one yet knows.”
They will know in Jan of 2012—Clondiathin exposure suppresses the bees immunity and that is why they have a crazy level of pathogen load. At this point—24 states are reporting CCD losses characterized by hives with few or no surviving bees. Migratory Beeks have lost up to 90 percent of their bees in some areas, while pollinating oranges and almonds.
“…bees left the hive and flew away to die elsewhere, over about a week. Another was that the few bees left inside the hive were carrying "a tremendous number of pathogens" - virtually every known bee virus could be detected in the insects, she said, and some bees were carrying five or six viruses at a time, as well as fungal infections. Because of this it was assumed that the bees' immune systems were being suppressed in some way.”
You know, like the bats with White Nose Syndrome. –Another interesting finding—other bees and pests do not attempt to rob the dying hives—most likely because they can now detect the massive amounts of poison trapped in the wax and honey and in the brood. Check out the entire Story:
http://www.independent.co.uk/...
March 22, 2007: Der Spiegel [Germany] Collapsing colonies, are GM Crops killing Bees? This article states that a study in Germany found that Bees exposed to BT Corn Pollen had weakened immune systems and were more succeptible to Parasites. Or that sick or infested bees became weaker when exposed to this altered pollen.
“According to Hans-Hinrich Kaatz, a professor at the University of Halle in eastern Germany and the director of the study, the bacterial toxin in the genetically modified corn may have "altered the surface of the bee's intestines, sufficiently weakening the bees to allow the parasites to gain entry -- or perhaps it was the other way around. We don't know."”
http://www.spiegel.de/...
May 23, 2007: KELO {SD}: Colony Collapse Disorder. South Dakota is the fourth largest honey producer in the United States.
“Richard Adee is the Owner of Adee Honey Farms in Bruce, SD. He says, "Some beekeepers are experiencing 50 to 60, some as high as 90 percent losses."” I found the following quote very interesting: USDA researchers are testing several different theories on what's causing this colony crisis. Some say it's a fungus, others blame pesticides and a select few say its global warming. Another concern is genetically modified crops that are found right here in keloand. Adee says, "They do enhance the sunflowers, soybeans, even the corn. They get pollen from the corn so you see if that's GMO they're bringing that corn pollen back and maybe that’s doing it, ya' know that's just, well, we've got to check it out."
I like that word, “Enhance” that is special. Turning a food source into a manufacturer of toxic death. I would say that’s enhanced alright.
http://www.keloland.com/...
July 14, 2007: Palm Beach post Archive: Honey Bee Rescue.
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday announced an action plan for colony collapse disorder, the term used to describe the mysterious disappearance of honeybees first reported in Florida last fall. The disorder has been blamed for an estimated loss of as much as 50 percent of the country's honeybee population.”
Oh to be a bug in those telephones. I wonder what kind of internal memos were generated inside of Bayer when they got the news?
http://nl.newsbank.com/...
Nov 2007: EPA reviews field study on Clondiathin in Canola Fields and finds it acceptable. The National Resources Council had to sue to see a copy. At best the information was thoroughly incomplete with regards to long term effects on Honey Bees or any Hymenoptera relatives. See full explanation here: http://www.panna.org/...
Feb 19, 2008: The Register [UK] Haagan Dazs Battles Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder—Funds Research Into Apiarian Collapse. Now the beginning quote in this story would have you believe that CCD started in 2006. But it appears that it really started in 1995. If you consider CCD to be driven by a chemical vector, then really any mass regional bee deaths, that were chemical in nature could be considered part of this phenomenon—thinking of encapsulated parathion in the 1970s. And this quote is interesting:
“As we reported last year, the symptoms of CCD are normally evident between late summer and early spring. In the US, colonies were hit as older bees died, "leaving behind the queen and young workers not yet ready to forage for pollen and nectar and insufficient in number to maintain the colony".
Which correspond to the planting dates for Corn and Soy—and what do we treat corn and soy seeds with?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/...
May 6, 2008: Science Daily: Flowers that Rely on Pollinators Produce a higher Quality of Pollen.
"The quality of pollen a plant produces is closely tied to its sexual habits, ecologists have discovered. As well as helping explain the evolution of such intimate relationships between plants and pollinators, the study -- one of the first of its kind and published online in the British Ecological Society's journal Functional Ecology -- also helps explain the recent dramatic decline in certain bumblebee species found in the shrinking areas of species-rich chalk grasslands and hay meadows across Northern Europe....They found that without exception, plants that rely solely on insects for pollination produce the highest quality pollen, packing 65% more protein into their pollen than plant species that do not have to rely on insect pollinators. They also discovered that bumblebees prefer to visit plants with the most protein-rich pollen. According to the lead author of the study, Dr Mick Hanley of the University of Plymouth: "Bumblebees appear to fine-tune their foraging behaviour to select plants offering the most rewarding pollen. Although there is some debate about how they can tell the difference, it is possible they are using volatile compounds.""
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
May 23, 2008: Guardian UK: Germany Bans Chemicals Linked to Honey Bee Devastation. “The move follows reports from German beekeepers in the Baden-Württemberg region that two thirds of their bees died earlier this month following the application of a pesticide called clothianidin…Tests on dead bees showed that 99% of those examined had a build-up of clothianidin. The chemical, produced by Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of the German chemical giant Bayer, is sold in Europe under the trade name Poncho. It was applied to the seeds of sweetcorn planted along the Rhine this spring. The seeds are treated in advance of being planted or are sprayed while in the field.” Several months earlier than the May 2008—France rejected Bayer’s application to distribute Clondiathin for agricultural use.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
June 11, 2008: The Daily Green: Diseases Crippling the Biggest Hives: The author points out that the beeks hit hardest by CCD are migratory beeks who put their hives in large agricultural areas.
“The beekeepers that lost honey bees last fall and winter to CCD were predominately commercial and large side line beekeepers. Whether that’s because they are the beekeepers who were able to note the causes of their problems (CCD-like symptoms), or just those who were reporting them is unclear. We do know that the official count by USDA was from only commercial operations, so that helps sort it out a bit.”
These Beeks are constantly exposing their bees to sublethal and lethal doses of a variety of pesticides, and most especially to neonicotinoid systemic pesticides like Clondiathin and Imadicloprid. The study from Purdue University that will be published in the early spring of 2012 will reveal that bees are gathering/ flying through clouds of “talc” from clondiathin treated seed at planting time and dropping dead, long before reaching the hive. Backyard Beeks do not have access to those thousands of acres of treated corn and soy or rapeseed. Rowan Jacobsen who wrote Fruitless Fall pointed out/postulated that it will be the backyard Beeks that will save apiculture
http://www.thedailygreen.com/..._
June 26, 2008: Atlanta Journal Constitution: Deaths in Honey Bee Colonies Still Puzzling Scientists. The usual speculation with barely a nod towards pesticides. But what caught my eye in particular was this quote:
“Robert Dowe Edwards, a farmer from Whitakers, N.C., said his family farm was forced to cut its acreage of cucumbers in half. Edwards blames the reduction on a combination of things, including higher gas prices and labor costs. But the problem with honeybees has irritated the situation, he said."The simple fact is, no honeybees, no cucumbers," he said.”
Funny how that works. Although assurances come from the Beltway about funding for studies to “find the cause” of CCD, one look at this timeline will tell you where the money didn’t go, or WHERE certain companies, lobbyists, and the like didn’t want the money to go.
http://www.ajc.com/...
Aug 4, 2008: Science Daily: Saving Our Bees: Implications of Habitat Loss.
“The most recent and headline-capturing phenomenon, known as colony collapse disorder, is characterized by the disappearance of adult honeybees from beekeeper hives, leaving behind bee larvae with no caretakers. The bee decline is particularly unnerving for farmers because an estimated 80 percent of all food crops are pollinated by honeybees and their wild cousins.”
[And their wild cousins---who are also in decline as well!]
“Stymied scientists have proposed a host of reasons for managed honeybee declines, including climate change, parasites, diseases, overexposure to pesticides and loss of suitable habitat; most researchers believe that a combination of these factors is responsible. In this oral session, scientists turn their attention to native, wild bees to determine whether they are undergoing – or might undergo – the same decline.”
Sadly we will discover that the native bees are also undergoing dramatic declines. In fact whole books were written on the decline of pollinators over a decade before this. Our Forgotten Pollinators by Buchmann and Nabhan. Loss of habitat and forage [flowers] is very important, but would essentially be meaningless if all of that soil and those flowers were full of poison that is particularly deadly to bees.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
Aug 26, 2008: Newser: Bayer Knew Pesticide Killed Bees Critics Charged. German citizens charge that Bayer purposefully submitted flawed studies to cover up the fact that their neonicotinoid pesticides are deadly to honey bees, and most likely to bees in general. http://www.newser.com/...
Sept 28, 2008: Guardian UK: Soil Association Urges Ban on Pesticides to Halt Bee Deaths.
"The Soil Association has urged the government to ban pesticides linked to honeybee deaths around the world.The chemicals are widely used in UK agriculture but have been banned as a precaution in four other European countries. Last week the Italian government issued an immediate suspension after it accepted that the pesticides were implicated in killing honeybees, joining France, Germany and Slovenia...The pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, are approved to kill insects on a range of crops in the UK including oilseed rape, barley and sugar beet. Their use on oilseed rape is of particular concern to beekeepers as the crop's yellow flower is very attractive to honeybees...Imidacloprid and clothianidin are produced by a division of the chemical manufacturer Bayer. Imidacloprid is its bestselling pesticide and is used in 120 countries."
Officials in the UK say that Honey Bee Decline is due to a variety of factors and have no intention of banning these chemicals. Globally, Beeks have reported 30 to 90% losses of their colonies since 2006.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
Feb 16, 2009: KWWL: Iowa Implements New Pesticide Rule.
“The updated rule limits the application of insecticides labeled as dangerous to bees in areas near registered apiaries around the active foraging hours of honeybees. The applications must occur prior to 8:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m. These times are designed to prevent application directly to foraging bees and also allows chemicals to settle and dry onto plant surfaces outside the primary hours of active bee foraging.”
The problem with this rule, is that no one realizes that the bees are foraging treated seed for gluten during the winter and very early spring before the flowers bloom. And since the seed treated turn the plants into pesticide producers, the bees will get those chemicals through pollen, nectar, and guttation as well. And ground dwelling bees [think bumble bees and digger bees] will be exposed through persistence and migration in the soil where they make their nests.--Anyone wonder how persistence in the soil affects reptiles? Or animals like Tarantulas?
http://www.kwwl.com/...
July 16, 2009: Beyond Pesticides.org: EPA Initiates review of pesticide linked to honey bee decline.
“Beyond Pesticides, July 16, 2009) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a Final Work Plan (FWP) for the registration review of imidacloprid. A neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid is highly toxic to honeybees on an acute exposure basis, and has been implicated in the recent Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that has occurred throughout the U.S. Over 12,000 comments were received by the agency since December 2008, urging the agency to suspend the use of this controversial chemical.”
The EPA’s response: “
In order to suspend the registration of a pesticide under FIFRA, EPA must find that an ‘imminent hazard’ exists. The federal courts have ruled that to make this finding, EPA must conclude, among other things, that there is a substantial likelihood that imminent, serious harm will be experienced from use of the pesticide. While the information before EPA, including the information you have provided to us, clearly indicates that further study regarding the possible connection between these pesticides and serious harm to bees is warranted, your request for suspension does not demonstrate a causal link sufficient to justify the suspension of these pesticides under the FIFRA standard.”
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/...
June 1, 2009: Guardian UK: Bumble Bee Extinct in Britain to be Reintroduced from New Zealand. http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
Jul 16, 2009: Guardian UK: Bayer Pesticide Seal of Approval Stings Britain's Bee Keepers. "So it is a shock to discover that the British Bee Keepers' Association (BBKA), a charity in its 135th year, is receiving money from one of the main manufacturers of the allegedly bee-killing brew, Bayer Crop Sciences, and endorsing some of its products as "bee-friendly". It comes as slightly less of a shock to find that many of its members are badly stung and campaigning against by the link-up." This lead to resignations in that organization and the formation of at least one new rival group. "The BBKA says its technical committee rules whether any endorsed products are "bee-friendly". Critics say the committee is composed not of independent experts but largely of association insiders, including its president Tim Lovett." Very interesting. http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
Summer 2009: Health Benefits of Honey.Com: Reprinted Article from 2010—No Title
“Last summer Larry Pender, a Camarillo, Calif., beekeeper and businessman, took 1,000 of his 2,900 beehives up to North Dakota where they fed on corn pollen. All 60 million bees died. “I’m not returning to North Dakota, and I’ll be staying away from genetically modified corn,” he said.”
North Dakota will be one of the states that sees the emergence of a host-jumping parasitic fly later in 2011. While it normally preys on Bumble Bees and Paper wasps, it has now started parasitizing honey bees. I suspect due to a dearth of Bumble bees and wasps who dwell in the ground.
http://www.health-benefits-of-honey.com/...
Oct 26, 2009: US Fish and Wildlife Service: US Fish and Wildlife Service Awards 800,000. Dollars In Grants To Explore the Cause, Control of White Nose Syndrome In Bats.
“the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced 6 grant awards totaling $800,000 going toward research efforts to explore the cause and control of white-nose syndrome, a wildlife health crisis of unprecedented proportions that has now killed more than a million bats in the Northeast and remains unchecked.”
http://www.fws.gov/...
March 2010: Health Benefits of Honey.Com: Reprinted Article from 2010—No Title
“Last month (March 2010) hives from 23 states were examined and found to contain 121 different types of pesticides amid the 887 samples of wax, pollen, bees and hive samples. Toxicity is being spread throughout the entire biosphere, albeit in small doses, but it is piling up and quickly… That’s a familiar message being echoed by beekeepers across America this spring. Dave Hackenberg, the largest beekeeper in Pennsylvania, decided for the first time in 42 years not to take his bees to Florida. “I am not going to put my bees in orange groves. The chemicals they are using are doing something that is breaking down bees’ immune systems,” he told me.”
http://www.health-benefits-of-honey.com/...
June 10, 2010: Guardian/UK Honey Bee Collapse Stung from Behind.This story states there is no issue with pollinators because we still have plenty of food on the shelves. What he fails to address is that whenever there is a mass collapse, that Queen Breeders and those who sell Nucs {Hive Nuclei} sell out quickly and the price of buying package honey bees and Nucs jumps significantly. Nucs used to cost about 50 bucks a pop, and if you have plenty of health hives, you can do a split and make two hives from one. Now if you buy a nuc you can spend 90 to 120 dollars as opposed to that 50$. You will get no honey the first year unless you want to kill your colony. You will get pollination services, but a nuc is much smaller than an established colony. So that means fewer foragers all season long-which equals less efficient pollination services, and a smaller cluster to ride out the winter. Beeks are struggling to keep up with supply and demand. And if they can only provide pollination services from diminished numbers of bees, 30 to 90 percent of which they loose every spring and fall + NO Honey--they are loosing money. They will go out of business. Honey production will decline and eventually so will produce that is pollinated by honey bees. Wild bees are in decline as well. http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
June 28, 2010: Guardian UK: Action not Research is needed to Save our Pollinators.
"There is no doubt that honeybees, hoverflies, wasps, bumblebees, moths and butterflies are all under threat. Since the 1970s, there has been a 75% decline in butterfly species in the UK, three species of bumblebees are now extinct, and honeybees have been having a pretty hard time for the last few years."
The author makes it clear--that we know what needs to be done-globally. We should stop avoiding the issues and just do what is necessary. Green Up and make more sustainable communities with wildlife and esp pollinators in mind.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
Oct 8, 2010: CNN Money: What a Scientist Didn’t Tell the New York Times About His Study on Bee Deaths.
“A cheer must have gone up at Bayer on Thursday when a front-page New York Times article, under the headline "Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery," described how a newly released study pinpoints a different cause for the die-off: "a fungus tag-teaming with a virus." The study, written in collaboration with Army scientists at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center outside Baltimore, analyzed the proteins of afflicted bees using a new Army software system. The Bayer pesticides, however, go unmentioned… What the Times article did not explore -- nor did the study disclose -- was the relationship between the study's lead author, Montana bee researcher Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk, and Bayer Crop Science. In recent years Bromenshenk has received a significant research grant from Bayer to study bee pollination.”
Bee Alert Technology also provides what appears to be the Only Map of CCD reporting. And it does not indicate the times/dates that these deaths were reported, making it impossible to compare those dates, with the dates of corn plantings or other crops that use neonicotinoid treatments. As someone who conducts a lot of research, I would find that lack of attention of detail disturbing--especially when this non-information is presented from a professional source. Because if you want people to look at the map with a mind to problem solving, then one includes details, times, seasons, locations. A shaded state only tells me that someone had a CCD incident, and doesn’t say how many people were affected or bees, or where or what season.
http://money.cnn.com/...
Nov 2010: Field Study on Clondiathin, approved by EPA in Nov 2007 is downgraded to a supplemental study because it failed to meet basic requirements. http://www.panna.org/...
Nov 15, 2012: Independent/UK: None Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Wow--It's like DDT all over again!
"Could we be facing a future without birds? Our reliance on pesticides has cut a swathe through their numbers. We must act now, argues Kate Ravilious...According to Henk Tennekes, a researcher at the Experimental Toxicology Services in Zutphen, the Netherlands, the threat of DDT has been superseded by a relatively new class of insecticide, known as the neonicotinoids. In his book The Systemic Insecticides: A Disaster in the Making, published this month, Tennekes draws all the evidence together, to make the case that neonicotinoids are causing a catastrophe in the insect world, which is having a knock-on effect for many of our birds."
http://www.independent.co.uk/...
Dec 28, 2010: Science Daily: Honey Bees one of Many Pollinators affected by Colony Collapse Disorder Virus. Bees wild and domestic, are being “infected” by pollen. RNA Viruses are killing our bees. However other studies will show that GMOs that are consumed can carry microRNA that lead to changes in the consuming organism. It will also be discovered that honey bees exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides have a depressed immune system and carry a much higher viral and fungal load in their bodies as a result. http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
Jan 4, 2011: Science Daily: Large-Scale Study Reveals Major Decline in Bumble Bees.
“The three-year study analyzed the geographic distribution and genetic diversity of eight species of bumble bees in the U.S., relying on historical records and repeated surveys of about 400 sites. The researchers compiled a database of more than 73,000 museum records and compared them with current sampling based on intensive national surveys of more than 16,000 specimens. The national analysis found that the relative abundances of four of the eight species analyzed have declined by as much as 96 percent and that their surveyed geographic ranges have shrunk by 23 to 87 percent. Some of these contractions have occurred in the last two decades.”
Bumble bees are very important pollinators and are domesticated like honey bees for pollination services in green houses, especially for tomatoes and peppers.
“Researchers have many hypotheses about what is causing the declines, but none have been proven, Cameron said. Climate change appears to play a role in the declines in some bumble bee species in Europe, she said. Habitat loss may also contribute to the loss of some specialist species, she said. Low genetic diversity and high infection rates with the parasite pathogen are also prime suspects.”
Bumble bees nest in the ground and in grass tussocks on the ground. So they would be affected by mowing, pesticide use, and persistent pesticide soil contamination such as that of Clondiathin in addition to chronic, sublethal exposure through nectar, pollen and guttation consumption.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
Feb 2, 2011: Bloomberg: Honey Bee Decline is concern for Cocao, Coffee, Rabobank Says. Apples, Coffee, Cocoa [chocolate], Almonds, Grapefruit, Oranges could all suffer as a result of a shortage or a loss of pollinators. The press agent seems to be completely unaware as to how neocicotinoids use multiple methods to attack insects that feed on the plants that are grown with this systemic pesticide including how this chemical persists in the soil for years after initial exposure through treated seed and/or foliar sprays. http://www.bloomberg.com/...
Jan 23, 2011: Livescience: 4 Bumble Bee Species in Decline in US.
“Like honeybees, bumblebees are employed to pollinate agricultural crops. Though they are less numerous, their high-frequency buzz gives them an advantage, as the sound waves free more pollen than a honeybee's buzz, and their large size allows them to continue working in colder temperatures, according to Lozier.”
http://www.livescience.com/...
June 3, 2011: Tristateneighbor: USDA/ AIA Survey Reports 2010/2011 Winter Honey Bee Losses:
“WASHINGTON - Total losses from managed honeybee colonies nationwide were 30 percent from all causes for the 2010-11 winter, according to the annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA). This is roughly similar to total losses reported in similar surveys done in the four previous years: 34 percent for the 2009-10 winter, 29 percent for 2008-09, 36 percent for 2007-08, and 32 percent for 2006-07… The survey, which covered the period from October 2010 to April 2011, was led by Pettis and by AIA past-presidents Dennis vanEngelsdorp and Jerry Hayes...A total of 5,572 beekeepers, who manage more than 15 percent of the country's estimated 2.68 million colonies, responded to the survey.”
http://www.tristateneighbor.com/...
June 14, 2011: The Daily Green: What the Winter Loss Survey Tells Us about Colony Collapse Disorder.
“Preliminary survey results indicate that 30% of managed honey bee colonies in the United States were lost during the 2010/2011 winter. The percentage of losses have remained relatively steady (near or above 30%) over the last 5 years. Specifically, previous survey results indicated that 34% of the total colony loss in the winters of 2009/2010; 29% in 2008/2009; 36% in 2007/2008; and 32% in 2006/2007.”
http://www.thedailygreen.com/...
June 17, 2011: Science Daily: Global Warming Shorten's Forage Season for Mountain Pollinators.
""Shifts in flowering in mountain meadows could in turn affect the resources available to pollinators like bees," says David Inouye of the University of Maryland, currently on leave in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology."
It's not just mountain pollinators affected. Eratic weather patterns in the early spring can allow just enough warmth for flowers to bud and bloom, but still be too cold for bees to fly and harvest that nectar and pollen.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
June 21, 2011: Science Daily: Picky Pollinators: Native US Bees Are Selective About Where they Live and Feed.
“Because many native bees are ground- and cavity-nesters, the scientists weren't surprised to find that an abundant supply of dead wood, such as woody debris and dead tree limbs, was essential in determining what kinds of bees lived where. They were surprised, however, at how important other factors were, including bee preferences for specific soil characteristics and for areas that had burned in the previous two years.”
This story is about N. American Indigenous Bees, and their habitat requirements, however it also mentions that Bumble Bees in the Midwest are in decline, and that loss of habitat plays a part. Persistent Pollutants that migrate from crop fields into wild or feral spaces are most likely playing a bigger part than many people realize.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
June 21, 2011: Science Daily: Pollination Services At Risk Following Decline of Swedish Bumble Bees.
"ScienceDaily (June 21, 2011) — Scientists from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the University of Lund have discovered that the community composition of bumble bee species and their relative abundances have changed drastically over the last 70 years in Sweden. Over the same period, the average seed yield of red clover has declined and variation in yield has doubled, suggesting that the current dependence on few species for pollination of red clover has been detrimental especially to stability in seed yield.
Pollinator decline is global, and it is not limited to only honeybees.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
Aug 11, 2011: Science Daily: The Flight of the Bumble Bee: Why Are They Disappearing?
“A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist is trying to learn what is causing the decline in bumble bee populations and also is searching for a species that can serve as the next generation of greenhouse pollinators.” Now if the USDA are looking for potential replacement for Bumble bees, then you know things are bad. “But colonies of Bombus occidentalis used for greenhouse pollination began to suffer from disease problems in the late 1990s and companies stopped rearing them. Populations of other bumble bee species are also believed to be in decline.”
Yes, that would be about the time of the first applications of NeoNicotinoids. Occidentalis has a higher pathogen load—like other bees suffering CCD or basically NeoNicotinoid Poisoning—Because Bumble bees nest in and on the ground where neonicotinoids persist for years, in addition to gathering sublethal doses of Neonicotinoids in pollen, nectar and guttation.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
Dec 5, 2011: Science Daily: Scientists Rediscover Rarest of U.S. Bumble Bees: Cockerell’s Bumble bee was last seen in the US in 1956. The following quote caught my eye:
"There is much concern lately about declines in our native bumblebee species, and as we now have tools at our disposal to assess their genetic makeup, these new specimens give fairly conclusive evidence that Cockerell's Bumblebee is a genuine species," he said.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
Jan 10, 2012: Market Watch: Beekeepers Are Critical to the Economy.
“"Bees and other pollinators are the underpinnings of a successful agricultural economy," said Brett Adee, Co-Chair of the National Honey Bee Advisory Board and owner of Adee Honey Farms."Without healthy, successful pollinators billions of dollars are at stake."… Honey bees are the most economically important pollinators in the world, according to a recent United Nations report on the global decline of pollinator populations.”
You would think this would be a big duh moment, but a lot of people who get their food from the freezer or the drive thru—don’t know this.
“They [Beekeepers] suggest the real value of their operations is $50 billion, based on retail value of food and crop grown from seed that relies upon bee pollination.” More than that. We are wholly dependent on pollinators, bees and all for our health and food and for our wild spaces. How much is that National Park worth to you? Not starving or being malnourished because you only have cereal grains and meat? How much is flavor worth to you? Now, how much is denial about the headliness of Neonicotinoids worth to the world? Are these companies going to feed the world? Are they going to get out in their three piece suits with paint brushes and ladders and pollinate our apples, blueberries, or pears?
"The threats facing pollinators should raise concerns, as sub-lethal impacts on bees are more serious than we had initially thought," said Dr. Jim Frazier, professor of Entomology at Penn State University. "Every time someone looks, they find something new." Yes they are. And if the Germans are correct, then it was all contrived and could have been prevented.
Jan 12, 2012: Science Daily: Honey Bee Deaths Linked to Seed Insecticide Exposure.
"Analyses of bees found dead in and around hives from several apiaries over two years in Indiana showed the presence of neonicotinoid insecticides, which are commonly used to coat corn and soybean seeds before planting. The research showed that those insecticides were present at high concentrations in waste talc that is exhausted from farm machinery during planting.The insecticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam were also consistently found at low levels in soil -- up to two years after treated seed was planted -- on nearby dandelion flowers and in corn pollen gathered by the bees, according to the findings released in the journal PLoS One this month...Krupke and Hunt received reports that bee deaths in 2010 and 2011 were occurring at planting time in hives near agricultural fields. Toxicological screenings performed by Brian Eitzer, a co-author of the study from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, for an array of pesticides showed that the neonicotinoids used to treat corn and soybean seed were present in each sample of affected bees. Krupke said other bees at those hives exhibited tremors, uncoordinated movement and convulsions, all signs of insecticide poisoning.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."
AND
"Krupke said the corn pollen that bees were bringing back to hives later in the year tested positive for neonicotinoids at levels roughly below 100 parts per billion. "That's enough to kill bees if sufficient amounts are consumed, but it is not acutely toxic," he said." http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
Jan 29, 2012: ISPS/IFEJ: Breakthrough on Mystery of Vanishing Bees:
“Scientists from Penn State University say they have found a connection between Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and colony collapse disorder. In a conference call last week, researchers argued that the virus, in conjunction with other stress factors, is likely the cause of the disorder, which has resulted in a loss of 50-90 percent of North American bee colonies. It was originally discovered in Israel in 2004, the same year that Australian bees were imported in to the United States.”
I find it interesting that this story comes out on the same day as the Independent Story that reports the unusual immune suppression effects of Clondiathin exposure on Honey Bees. Very interesting. Because that story and similar stories indicate that the bees are exposed to a toxin which suppresses immunity and then the bees are found to be harboring “every kind of virus known” along with spores and gods know what else. So really? A Virus? Just one? Yes, very interesting.
http://www.ipsnews.net/...
Jan 29, 2012: The Independent [UK]: Pesticides Blamed for Bee Decline. Finally, someone caught the sacred clue phone! Bee Decline—as in not just honey bees, but all bees.
“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.”
So basically the neonicotinoids are giving the bees chemical aids. Is there enough aspirin in the world to cure this headache?
“Dr Julian Little, a spokesman for Bayer CropScience, sought to dismiss the new findings yesterday: "The key issue here is that Jeff Pettis's studies were carried out in the laboratory and not the open air." He added: "Bee health is really important, but focusing on pesticides diverts attention away from the very real issues of bee parasites and diseases – that is where Bayer is focusing its effort."” And then there is the Purdue University Study to boot?! I am sure that is all “bunk” too!
http://www.independent.co.uk/...
March 12, 2012: Science Daily: Increased Honey Bee Diversity Means Fewer Pathogens, More Helpful Bacteria. Bee Breeders have been experimenting with different honey bee strains in order to increase behaviors like hygiene. Some have theorized that inbreeding issues have caused domestic honey bees to be more vulnerable to illness and parasites such as varoa mites. I wonder how this study will play out against recent discoveries involving pathogen load and NeoNicotinoid exposure.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
March 14, 2012: Science Daily: Corn Insecticide Linked to Great Die-Off of Beneficial Honey Bees.
"The study, published in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology, appears on the eve of spring planting seasons in some parts of Europe where farmers use the technology and widespread deaths of honeybees have occurred in the past.In the study, Andrea Tapparo and colleagues explain that seeds coated with so-called neonicotinoid insecticides went into wide use in Europe in the late 1990s. The insecticides are among the most widely used in the world, popular because they kill insects by paralyzing nerves but have lower toxicity for other animals. Almost immediately, beekeepers observed large die-offs of bees that seemed to coincide with mid-March to May corn planting. Scientists thought this might be due to particles of insecticide made airborne by the pneumatic drilling machines used for planting. These machines forcefully suck seeds in and expel a burst of air containing high concentrations of particles of the insecticide coating. In an effort to make the pneumatic drilling method safer, the scientists tested different types of insecticide coatings and seeding methods."
This appears to be a separate study from the Purdue Findings.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
March 14, 2012: Huffpo: Bee Hive Thefts On the Rise.
"Harris County Beekeepers Association member Jennifer Scott told the station these kinds of thefts are on the rise because the creatures, who create pricey raw honey, are in short supply."
Because we are loosing 34 percent of our bees annually, as a nation--that is why they are in high demand and more expensive too.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
March 15, 2012: ABC News: Honeybee Deaths Linked to Corn Pesticides.
"The study, titled “Assessment of the Environmental Exposure of Honeybees to Particulate Matter Containing Neonicotinoid Insecticides Coming from Corn Coated Seeds,” was published in the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Science & Technology journal, and provides insight into colony collapse disorder."
Finally this stuff makes the main stream news! Mark that down in your calendar! I would say, better late than never, but...
http://abcnews.go.com/...
March 16, 2012: HuffPo: Fewer Monarchs Wintered In Mexico.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...