Oranges

Top US Bee Experts: Nicotine Pesticides Worsen Bee Diseases

Submitted by Kevin Hansen on February 12, 2012 - 21:34

This is a really big deal:

A team of the top United States honeybee experts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Beltsville, Maryland, laboratory near Washington DC has published a damning report linking tiny sub-lethal concentrations of one nicotine pesticide, imidacloprid, with an increase in another common gut disease, Nosema.

Although many other studies before this suggested similar findings, the US government has been far behind - this is therefore a breakthrough. It also acknowledges some of the major work done by French researchers: until now, the groundbreaking French research was largely ignored by official US government agencies. Look for breakthroughs because of this work.

The original article linked above was released for public/open access (thanks Springer Publishing for making this open access!!). It is a top-downloaded article at this time on Springer's website.

Abstract of Original Article:

Download Leaked USEPA Report on Unreported Dangers of Bee-Killer Clothianidin

Submitted by Pierre Terre on January 18, 2011 - 14:31

Recently, an important USEPA internal document was leaked regarding the previously undisclosed toxicity of the nicotine pesticide clothianidin ('officially' disclosed - there have been lots of reports disclosing this problem outside of the USEPA). The report's authors suggested that:

Location: 
USEPA Headquarters Washington, DC
United States
38° 53' 42.4032" N, 77° 2' 10.9176" W
See map: Google Maps

Location

USEPA Headquarters Washington, DC
United States
38° 53' 42.4032" N, 77° 2' 10.9176" W
See map: Google Maps

Nicotine Bees - Trailer

Jul 09 2010
Nicotine Bees - Trailer Video Thumbnail

Buy Nicotine Bees on DVD: http://www.amazon.com/Nicotine-Bees-Kevin-Hansen/dp/B002R8AU4Y

Posted by Kevin Hansen |

New US Congress Caucus to Focus on Honey Bee Colony Collapse

Submitted by Anonymous on June 26, 2010 - 21:06

Bee colony collapse focus of new congressional caucus

By Andrew Seidman | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are rallying behind the beleaguered honeybee by creating a congressional caucus to promote research and focus attention on the troubling collapse of bee colonies.

Location

Washington DC, DC
United States
38° 53' 42.4032" N, 77° 2' 10.9176" W
See map: Google Maps

Imidacloprid Residues Found in 69% of Bees

Submitted by Pierre Terre on May 20, 2010 - 23:32

A Survey of Pesticide Residues in Pollen Loads Collected by Honey Bees in France

Read Complete Article

Location: 
Sophia-Antipolis
France
43° 37' 21.2052" N, 7° 2' 28.122" E

Location

Sophia-Antipolis
France
43° 37' 21.2052" N, 7° 2' 28.122" E

Imidacloprid contaminates the pollen of seed-coated crops : A high risk for bees

Submitted by Pierre Terre on May 20, 2010 - 23:17

Conclusions for Imidacloprid (Gaucho) :

  • A long persistence / soils (t1⁄2 = 9 months)
  • An uptake in flowers (mean level at 7 ng/g)
  • Mean level at 2-3 ng/g in pollen
  • Subletal effects at 2-4 ng/g (4 days)
  • Chronic mortality from 0.1 ng/g (10 days)
  • Main metabolites as much toxic as imidacloprid for bees
  • High risk for the beehives (PEC/PNEC >> 1)
  • Synergies with other pesticides, pathogens and parasites
  • Generalization of these results to nicotinoids and pyrazoles (clothianidin, thiamethoxam, fipronil...)
Location: 
Montpelier
France
44° 15' 36.2124" N, 72° 34' 31.3932" W

Location

Montpelier
France
44° 15' 36.2124" N, 72° 34' 31.3932" W

Understanding the Science: the Impact of Imidacloprid on Bees

Imidacloprid is the largest-selling pesticide on earth. It has been widely implicated as an important cause in honeybee death worldwide, and the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) problem. The following describes some of the important toxic characteristics of imidacloprid.

See Also:

Italy keeps ban on neonicotinoid seed coating to save bees

Submitted by Pierre Terre on March 3, 2010 - 15:23

YourIs.com, Italy keeps ban on neonicotinoid seed coating to save bees

The Italian Agriculture Ministry suspended the use of pesticides containing clothianidin, thiametoxam and imidacloprid for the coating of any plant seeds (May '09).

Tens of thousands of them don’t even manage to get back to their apiary. Disoriented, they lose the way home and die. Others just drop dead after sucking the tiniest amount of dew exuded by maize leaves if the plants have been absorbing neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides that Italy has temporarily banned as seed coating in September last year for their “possible connection to the colony collapse of bees”.

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