USA caught killing bees

[Auxin]

Wik-Bee Leaks: EPA Document Shows It Knowingly Allowed Pesticide That Kills Honey Bees

BY Ariel Schwartz Fri Dec 10, 2010

The world honey bee population has plunged in recent years, worrying beekeepers and farmers who know how critical bee pollination is for many crops. A number of theories have popped up as to why the North American honey bee population has declined--electromagnetic radiation, malnutrition, and climate change have all been pinpointed. Now a leaked EPA document reveals that the agency allowed the widespread use of a bee-toxic pesticide, despite warnings from EPA scientists.

The document, which was leaked to a Colorado beekeeper, shows that the EPA has ignored warnings about the use of clothianidin, a pesticide produced by Bayer that mainly is used to pre-treat corn seeds. The pesticide scooped up $262 million in sales in 2009 by farmers, who also use the substance on canola, soy, sugar beets, sunflowers, and wheat, according to Grist.

The leaked document (PDF) was put out in response to Bayer's request to approve use of the pesticide on cotton and mustard. The document invalidates a prior Bayer study that justified the registration of clothianidin on the basis of its safety to honeybees:

 

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.

The entire 101-page memo is damning (and worth a read). But the opinion of EPA scientists apparently isn't enough for the agency, which is allowing clothianidin to keep its registration.

Suspicions about clothianidin aren't new; the EPA's Environmental Fate and Effects Division (EFAD) first expressed concern when the pesticide was introduced, in 2003, about the "possibility of toxic exposure to nontarget pollinators [e.g., honeybees] through the translocation of clothianidin residues that result from seed treatment." Clothianidin was still allowed on the market while Bayer worked on a botched toxicity study [PDF], in which test and control fields were planted as close as 968 feet apart.

Clothianidin has already been banned by Germany, France, Italy, and Slovenia for its toxic effects. So why won't the EPA follow? The answer probably has something to do with the American affinity for corn products. But without honey bees, our entire food supply is in trouble.

[1]

I doubt its so much americas love of corn as a corporations love of a quarter billion dollars per year that caused the cover up.

[watertrade]

I'm pretty sure Australia allows these too. and the ever popular confidor contains Imidacloprid -

which I think is also suspected of hive callapse.

[tripsis]

Wouldn't most insecticides be deadly to bees?

[ThunderIdeal]

yeah but it sounds like what is happening is the residues from the seed remain in the plant in tiny concentrations or just generally pollute the farm environment, but because they persist and build up the bees are exposed to enough of the compound to run into trouble, so the bees are probably very sensitive to it.

doesn't australia have the most healthy bees of any continent? not that our bee population is completely safe.

[mr me]

I just bought some insecticide today that said don't spray when bees are active. I did not notice until I got home, I'll have to take it back. My garden is getting nailed by lots of bugs this year so I'll have to keep working away with more natural remedies. Even if Australia does have some of the healthiest bee colonies I don't want to contribute to their possible demise.

[tripsis]

But many insecticides are systemic and persistent. I don't see why these ones specifically are any worse than any other systemic insecticides available. Also, the onlt reason people give a damn about the bees if because they're profitable. Native bees, wasps, ants and termites do not seem to be entering the consideration of the research.

[ThunderIdeal]

that's probably true, but if all the wasps of the world started dying mysteriously it would still cause a lesser buzz. (get it, buzz? hahahahahaha!)

what's not to get? chemical A has an LD50 of 800ppm in bees, chemical B has an LD50 of 2ppm in bees (random example)

[tripsis]

Alright, well they may be worse, but are they the worst? Even if they are, the next in line are still probably pretty damned bad.

[ThunderIdeal]

what are you proposing, that we stop poisoning the planet ALTOGETHER?? malcontent! misanthrope! communist!

[tripsis]

Yes on three accounts of your accusations. Not to being a communist though.

[ubza_1234]

i'm a proffessional pest controller by trade and can tell you that very few proffessional chemicals are systemic. The only chemical i know of that is, is a chemical called premise and its chinese copies and this is strictly a termite spray and illeagal to use for anything contrary to the label. The active of this chemical is called imadaclorprid and this is an insect growth regulator. From memory it works by messing with the bugs malting stage. Either not letting it crack out of its shell as it grows, crushing it from its own shell as it grows, or by not letting its shell harden which means it dehydrates and dies. This chemical is rarely used as termidor (fiprinol) has replaced it as its more effective. The systemic action is not as much as you would think, not enough to generally kill anything acutely. I cant remember how much the plant takes up but its not much at all.

The reason it gets sucked up is because it is one of the very very few water based formulations. 90% of chemicals are either suspension concentrates (SC's) or emulsion concentrates (EC's) and these are not systemic because the molecules are to large to be taken by the roots. They are designed that way to keep our customers happy so when they ask what about our apple trees? We can tell them that the tree or what ever will not take up any chemicals.

I love bee's and personally i wish that bee's had no stinger so i wouldnt need to kill the hive when a worried mother is scare of her kid getting stung by the bee's that have made a home behind the kids window frame or if someone is alergic of bees and will die within 5mins of getting stung. I wish no-one was scared of getting stung or of possibley being alergic or getting welts all over there body from a bee sting. I wish bee's would make hives outside of a building instead of inside a wall cavity or in the hollow of the tree by the front door so i could have a tiny chance of relocating the nest, even tho relocation of a nest will most likely result in killing the nest but is still better then nothing. I wish all these things, but unfortunately sometimes its not safe to keep a nest nearby a house and thats just how it goes i'm afraid.

Chemicals sprayed around the house are very unlikely to kill a nearby hive. The reason is because the queen is what is needed to keep a hive going. As long as there are a few hundred bees the queen should be fine. Apart from bait based insecticides, there are no nondetectable/non-repellant, accumulative chemicals for use by the public that i can find, and trust me, i've looked.

Furthermore, all new chemicals (keeping in mind that at some stage all chemicals have been new) that find there way to our shores are independantly tested extensively and i think from memory it takes something like 10-15years for chemicals to be fully tested and registed from scratch before they are legally ready for general use for the pest control industry. I think new formulations of old chemicals dont take so long to aprove.

Also keep in mind that every insecticidal chemical i have picked up from the supermaket or bunnings or what ever has been pyrethrum based. Wether its bifenthrin, permethrin, cypermethrin there all based on the chemical permethrin. If you see piperonyl butoxide, that is simply a potentuator to make the real active more effective. Also, dont be caught up on "the safeness of permethrin because its natural" most permethrins in store are syntheticly made and based on the natural permethrin found in the permethrin daisy. It's great how they market it; based on natural permethrin from daisies." It is chemically exactly the same just synthisized in a lab instead of a flower. The chemicals toxicity is exactly the same weither it is from a flower or a lab. This is a pure compound were talking about remember. Also, good ol', syntheticly made bifenthrin is slightly less toxic to mammals then permethrin. The difference is that permethrin will degrade faster then bifenthrin when exposed to sunlight, wind, rain etc thus why bifenthrin is an industry standard. All these permethrins only kill on contact with an insect. Concentrates, as used by proffessionals bond onto the surface they dry on. That means once they dry, they cannot be washed away unless the surface, such as soil, is washed away too but even then, will generally not leach because it has bonded to the surface of what ever it has dried to. Think of it like paint. While its wet, it can be washed with water pretty easily, but once its dried on ther, it's ther for good untill the weather degrades it.

I know i went a bit off topic, but hopefully they you guys find my rant interesting.

Ps, we do have the healthiest bees ;)

[tripsis]

What are about Confidor and Folimat? Both of these are systemic insecticides available freely from retail stores. They might not be used commerically though.

Good to see a post with a wealth of information it it. Interesting that bifenthrin is actually less toxic than permethrin.

[ubza_1234]

mr me: you will not find a chemical that wont say dont spray were bees are. They need to cover there ass. All flamable areosols insecticides say keep can away from opeb flames, but my god, the number of times i find bug bombs in roofs, i ask the customer, did you extinguish the piolet light in the ducted heating system in your roof? Errr... No? Thats cool.... Just fill your roof with flammable hydrocarbon gas with the pilot light still burning away.. Who needs a roof huh?

[ubza_1234]

edit double post

Edited December 15, 2010 by ubza_1234

[ubza_1234]

tripsys: i'v never heard of folimat, but i forgot about that domestic confidor. I had some given to me in a aerosol which was the shit for whit fly but had no risidual effect which is fantastic and only had a with max holding period of like, 4 days to give it plenty of time to break down propperly. Like white oil on roids. Hahaha Perhaps find the half life of those chemicals you mentioned.

[ThunderIdeal]

confidor IS imadacloprid

[ubza_1234]

yes, when its in a hand spray pack, but bayer made another spray in an aerosol that they gave out to pest controllers for free that i got my handss on. I'lll have to double check what its called

[shortly]

i'm a proffessional pest controller by trade and can tell you that very few proffessional chemicals are systemic.

Ps, we do have the healthiest bees ;)

 

Actually there are dozens of registered systemics, although granted only the few you mentioned are for use around buildings.

They are generally registered as agricultural & horticultural cides and are designed to move within a target plants tissues and are certainly not for use around the house.

And unfortunately we lost the right to claim the healthiest bees years ago, our only claim to fame now is our freedom from Varroa mite, fingers crossed.

Edited December 16, 2010 by shortly

[ubza_1234]

true, my bad, i guess i was thinking inside my box a lil too much, i dont deal with agricultural & horticultural pests, only what we call domestic pest like wasps, spiders, ants,temites, rats etc

last time i spoke to our bee keeper he said ours are alot healthier then alot of the other bees around the world. any collectable swarms we find near were he lives, we let him know so he can collect them.

i guess maybe not the best of the best but i'm pretty sure that we have some export quality bees flyin round our great country ;)

crazy bee fact:

you know that a swarm can set up a hive with honey comb and honey and everything in just a few hours? crazy! i had a client who said a bee swarm landed on her car while she was at the gym, and when she got back they were all over the bonnet, up the skirts, in the wheel arch, everywere! she tried driving round for 2 hours as she did her dayly chors, took it thru a car wash to maybe drown the buggers but nothing worked! the car wash only pushed them to a safe place were the water couldnt get them, that is, in the coil spring of the front left suspension system! on the 5th hour she called us and on the 6th hour i rocked up on my way home. while i was treating it, i could smell the sweet sweet smell of that honey. now thats crazy!

[tripsis]

It's a damned shame that the European honey bee is such a concern for people, when in fact they are very problematic for our environment. They can outcompete native bees as a result of them being aboe to forage for pollen longer than our native species.

Although commercial honeybees (Apis spp.) are the most important pollinator of crops and are essential for the production of honey, they have also been shown to 'decrease available nectar and pollen in leatherwood forests and in some areas may cause a decline in the abundance of native insects' (Internal linkMallick 2001 Driessen et al. in Internal linkTSN 2005).

Source.

Apis mellifera can also cause changes in vegetation biodiversity and density, through selectively pollinating certain plant species over others.

Any yet, the concern is for the honey bee, as it is so important for us commerically. As usual, the environment and well-being of native ecosystems gets second place in terms of our priorities.

[ubza_1234]

its interesting you should say that, we have a native bee we always called a bush bee. They are recognisable by looking like a normal bee, but completely black. They also produce honey and have personally only seen them down the peninsula but dont know there habitats.

The reason they are not used instead of honey bees, i assume, is because of there agressiveness. When there home is endangered, (which is the only time i encounter them as a pest controller) they are often as aggressive as wasps in the same situation. I assume they are difficult to calm to collect there honey. They are a rare bee, in my experience, especially when compared to the common honey bee.

[ENtiTY]

i'm a proffessional pest controller by trade and can tell you that very few proffessional chemicals are systemic.

 

Your in the wrong game for systemics thats why you don't have many. You don't need to spray a house or a shed with a systemic pesticide. I'm in horticulture and pretty much all the professional pesticide chems we use are systemic as they are much more effective than contact. Biological trumps all though

You are right in saying that systemic action is not quite what one would think. It varies from plant to plant and chem to chem but translocation of the chem within a plant is fairly limited. Try spraying Syzygium pan with a systemic for eugenia psyllids. Translocation through lilly pilly is extremely limited, one has to spray thoroughly and weekly through the warmer months to keep them clean.

[bℓσωηG]

This compound is toxic to honey bees. The persistence of residues and the expression of clothianidin in nectar and pollen suggests the possibility of chronic toxic risk to honey bee larvae and the eventual stability of the hive.

http://www.greenchipstocks.com/articles/the-great-honeybee-conspiracy/1196

[random]

this thread is very interesting and in the same breath totally overwhelming to think of some of the chemicals out there that are polluting our planet. I regularly see native bees where I live and I would love to see more of them around.

[ubza_1234]

polluting our planet is what humans do best. alot of people dont even know there doing it. perhaps its not there fault, perhaps it's ment to happen, like bush fires that destroy the land and then spring up new life. who knows