U.S. Beekeepers Lost 23% of Colonies Last Winter; Scientists Recommend Treating Bees for Varroa Mite

[Damansarajaya]

19. On the other hand . . .

http://www.beecharmers.org/

France & Italy ban neonicotinoids. In the past six years, a new group of nicotine-based pesticides have emerged called neonicotinoids. The most common is imidachloprid. Ironically, these were originally manufactured to be less lethal. But about four years ago, French and Italian beekeepers complained that imidachloprid crop spraying was killing their honey bees. So the French and Italian governments banned the nicotine-based pesticides.

Germany bans chemicals linked to honeybee devastation Germany has banned a family of pesticides that are blamed for the deaths of millions of honeybees... The move follows reports from German beekeepers in the Baden-Wuerttemberg region that two thirds of their bees died earlier this month following the application of a pesticide called clothianidin."It's a real bee emergency," said Manfred Hederer, president of the German Professional Beekeepers' Association. "50-60% of the bees have died on average and some beekeepers have lost all their hives." Tests on dead bees showed that 99% of those examined had a build-up of clothianidin. Source/Full Story: The Guardian, May 23 2008

Jerry Hayes, Chief, Apiary Section, Florida Dept. of Agriculture, Gainsville, Florida: "The interesting thing about the Colony Collapse Disorder is that bees are leaving the colony and not coming back, which is highly unusual for a social insect to leave a queen and its brood or young behind. They are seemingly going out and can't find their way back home.
Imidachloprid, when it is used to control termites, does exactly the same thing. One of the methods it uses to kill termites is that the termites feed on this material and then go out to feed and can't remember how to get home. And it also causes their immune systems to collapse, causing what would be normal organisms to become pathogenic in them (bees).

What 60 Minutes didn't air The cause is imidacloprid, plain and simple," said David Hackenberg, the beekeeper who was the subject of a 60 Minutes story that aired Oct. 28.Hackenberg, who has tended bees his entire adult life, said he told 60 Minutes about this imidacloprid theory in these same direct terms. After editing Hackenberg's comments, however, the venerable CBS program quoted some scientists who said they weren't sure, thereby leaving doubt in everyone's mind. Here's the background you need to understand: The primary product used to control grubs on your lawn, or insects on your fruit trees, or termites in your basement, contains a chemical compound known as imidacloprid, a synthetic nicotine, which is most commonly marketed as Merit. No one debates that imidacloprid is toxic to bees, yet Bayer, the exclusive patent holder from 1988 until this year, denies its product causes CCD. . . .

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