Italy

Honeybee Dieoff Link to Corn Planting Process - Italy Researchers

Submitted by Kevin Hansen on February 19, 2012 - 20:09

The process of planting can release large amounts of pesticides coated on seeds - as dust. Corn/maize is widely treated with a coating laced with toxins: neonicotinoid pesticides, fungicides and a host of other substances are physically stuck to the grains of corn. This is a brittle substance that breaks off and creates a large dust problem - a toxic dust.

The team of researchers at the University of Padua, Italy, led by Andrea Tapparo has found significant mortality to honeybees as a result of this exposure. This was closely related to the spring-planting die-off blamed in Germany for a honeybee catastrophe several years ago.

This article is accepted - and will be published in the American Chemical Society's (ACS) journal "Environmental Science and Technology."

We have read a pre-print - look for this one to be downloadable soon.

Prosecutor Charges Bayer+Syngenta Over Honey Bee Die-Off

Submitted by Kevin Hansen on November 13, 2011 - 02:45

Three related events have recently heightened the honeybee issue:

First: Prosecutors in Italy have charged Bayer CropScience and Syngenta - both manufacturers of clothianidin - in honeybee deaths:

Fantastic report by Dan Rather on the Honey Bee dieoff and links to pesticides

Submitted by Kevin Hansen on September 25, 2011 - 15:25

Respected US journalist Dan Rather has produced a new video segment on the dieoff of the honey bees - and the links to pesticides:

http://vimeo.com/29419200

And he has blogged about this important story on The Huffington Post at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-rather/honeybees-pesticides-food-chain...

By Dan Rather

There have been numerous reports, including on our program, Dan Rather Reports, about the decline of the honeybee. They've been dying off in huge numbers. The cause has been lumped under a title called "Colony Collapse Disorder" or CCD.

"Nicotine Bees" Population Restored With Neonicotinoids Ban

Submitted by Pierre Terre on June 15, 2010 - 14:27

TreeHugger.com's Roberta Cruger recently reported on Nicotine Bees' delibvery to the US Congress, and that honeybee populations in Italy were restored with the ban on nicotine pesticides:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/nicotine-bees-population-restore...

Location

Los Angeles, CA
United States
34° 3' 8.0424" N, 118° 14' 37.266" W
See map: Google Maps

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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