And this one offered an entirely new route of exposure.
Corn Syrup.
Many bee keepers, including myself, feed our bees through the winter, to keep the colonies strong. And in the case of last year's extreme drought, we fed our bees through the Summer as well, because there were no flowers to visit.
There are some controversies about feeding bees. I know that some insist that a beek is blocking natural selection by feeding, and could be weakening the stock by "coddling" bees through rough weather or seasons.
I don't agree with that assessment, since many beeks keep their bees in areas where forage is limited and cannot sustain hives. Let's face it, too many urban plantings are sterile--as in no flowers.
Right now, popular plantings involve ornamental grasses which are not exactly the best source of pollen or nectar.
So what's up with the Corn Syrup?
Well, because Corn is treated with a systemic pesticide that enters into the plant and tricks the plant into exuding this poison, this pesticide is in every aspect of the plant. In the Corn Pollen, in the leaves and the corn itself.
And when that corn is rendered down into Corn Syrup, the pesticide is in that too. Which means that Beeks who use Corn Syrup to feed their bees are exposing their bees to sublethal dosages of NeoNicotinoids.
Lu and his co-authors hypothesized that the uptick in CCD resulted from the presence of imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid introduced in the early 1990s. Bees can be exposed in two ways: through nectar from plants or through high-fructose corn syrup beekeepers use to feed their bees. (Since most U.S.-grown corn has been treated with imidacloprid, it's also found in corn syrup.)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...
This could very well explain, Colony Collapse Disorder cases that have occurred in areas far away from corn, soy and cotton fields--and other treated, large agricultural area associated with treated seed or foliar sprays. Because most Beeks-feed their bees. And a good percentage use Corn Syrup.
This might also be a reason, that migratory bees never have a chance to recover from sublethal exposures to NeoNicotinoids. Even when removed from the treated fields/crops, the bees could still be ingesting this poison via their Sugar Syrup, and I would add, potentially through the consumptions of man-made pollen-patties. As you can see from this page, Beeks buy pollen to put in pollen patties: http://www.honeybeeworld.com/...
And we now know that pollen is contaminated with this poison, not only in treated plants, but in weeds that grow adjacent to treated plants or in treated fields, due to soil persistence.
"The pollen is expensive and is used only in a small amount in each batch. Measure carefully. Do not use it all up at the beginning. We have no more. The pollen has been irradiated with an electron beam to ensure that diseases are not spread from bee hive to bee hive. "
Would irradiation break down the poison? Your guess is as good as mine at this point. Would it break the poison down enough? Or change it's nature in some other way?
Here is another page that lists store bought pollen as an ingredient in pollen patties
http://beehivejournal.blogspot.com/...
Soy is also treated--so how much is in the soy flour?
But back to the Sugar Syrup feed for bees:
I use cane sugar that I melt down as a sugar syrup. I stay away from Corn Syrup. There have been other concerns about it's nutritional value for bees.
Though really, the best food for bees comes from a variety of flowers and not from a stock pot on your stove.
It does sort of make one wonder if there are any cumulative, or lingering effects on human beings that consume this stuff.
Here is a video showing how water moves through a plant, and moves minerals with that moisture through the body of the plant in a process called Transpiration
http://www.youtube.com/...
The material is exuded in the pollen, nectar, and guttation--this is the really big part here. It is taken up by the roots of the plant from the seed coating, or some cases, because the poison persists in the soil and is taken up by the roots of weeds in field and exuded in that fashion.
The poison taints the produce of the plant for the insects [and quite possibly for us].
In the following video, a researcher is showing guttation on young corn plants that have been treated with neonicotinoids. The poison is transported through the plant by transpiration and is excreted through the guttation, the pollen and nectar. The poison is found throughout the plant...
http://www.youtube.com/...
I wrote earlier that plants were tricked into producing this poison, no material suggests that thus far. That was my misunderstanding. However I had to go and look it up myself, so to those who who went on and on about it--I wanted to read it for myself--I hope you can understand that.
These products persist for years in the soil, and, as systemics, permeate the plants to which they are applied to be expressed as pollen, nectar and guttation droplets (like pesticide dew)...Recent science shows that extremely low dose exposures to neonicotinoids undermine immunity – rendering honey bees more susceptible to pathogens. And beekeepers in the U.S. and Europe have, for years, been asking governments to pull or restrict this class of pesticides because they believe them to be harming hive health.
http://www.panna.org/...
This Pesticide Action Network has a page called NeoNicotinoid Backgrounder:
http://www.panna.org/...(1).pdf
It gives a short overview of the issues of concern regarding NeoNicotinoids and Bees.
Here is an excerpt from the documentary: Vanishing of the Bees
Notice that the treated seed for corn and soy, are pink. How many times have we seen that seed in feed stores? Or any place where you buy seed in bulk?
http://www.panna.org/...(1).pdf
Mon Apr 09, 2012 at 6:39 AM PT: Visit this site to sign a petition started by a Kossack to save the bees.
http://www.change.org/...
Other actions can be taken at this page:
http://www.panna.org/...