CCD - Colony Collapse Disorder - The Why & What of the Bees?

[Judee]

The above is more than criminal and disgusting.

Sadly it's just another illustration that banks and large corporations own the guv'mnts, courts right up to the Oval Office.

There are a number of government agencies that have become little more than 'thugs' IMO. Fish and Wildlife has become very radical in its thinking and actions these days too. Homeland Security the same. But yes, like you said Alpha, that's because those agencies (and there's others) have become nothing less than an 'arm' of big Corporations. Things have gone too far and people have lost their rights.

[Judee]

sAng_hissyfit.gif Like the poor damn bees haven't had enough problems!!!


EDIS Code: BH-20120926-36685-USA
Date&Time: 2012-09-26
Continent: North-America
Country: USA
State/Prov.: State of Washington,
Location: Seattle region,

Experts and citizen scientists are tracking the "zombie bee" infection across the country. The insects have a parasite that causes them to fly at night and lurch around erratically until they die. The infection is another threat to bees that are needed to pollinate crops, in addition to the mysterious ailment "colony collapse disorder." The infection is as grim as it sounds: "Zombie bees" have a parasite that causes them to fly at night and lurch around erratically until they die. And experts say the condition has crept into Washington state. "I joke with my kids that the zombie apocalypse is starting at my house," said Mark Hohn, a novice beekeeper who spotted the infected insects at his suburban Seattle home. Hohn returned from vacation a few weeks ago to find many of his bees either dead or flying in jerky patterns and then flopping on the floor. He remembered hearing about zombie bees, so he collected several of the corpses and popped them into a pl astic bag. About a week later, the Kent man had evidence his bees were infected: the pupae of parasitic flies. "Curiosity got the better of me," Hohn said. The zombie bees were the first to be confirmed in Washington state, The Seattle Times reported. San Francisco State University biologist John Hafernik first discovered zombie bees in California in 2008.rnrnHafernik now uses a website to recruit citizen scientists like Hohn to track the infection across the country. Observers also have found zombie bees in Oregon and South Dakota. The infection is another threat to bees that are needed to pollinate crops. Hives have been failing in recent years due to a mysterious ailment called colony collapse disorder, in which all the adult honey bees in a colony suddenly die. The life cycle of the fly that infects zombie bees is reminiscent of the movie "Alien," the newspaper reported. A small adult female lands on the back of a honeybee and injects eggs into the bee's abdomen. The eggs hatch into maggots. "They basically eat the insides out of the bee," Hafernik said. After consuming their host Relevant Products/Services, the maggots pupate, forming a hard outer shell that looks like a fat, brown grain of rice. That's what Hohn found in the plastic bag with the dead bees. Adult flies emerge in three to four weeks. There's no evidence yet that the parasitic fly is a major player in the bees' decline, but it does seem the pest is targeting new hosts, said Steve Sheppard, chairman of the entomology department at Washington State University. "It may occur a lot more widely than we think," he said. That's what Hafernik hopes to find out with his website, zombeewatch.org. The site offers simple instructions for collecting suspect bees, watching for signs of parasites and reporting the results. Once more people start looking, the number of sightings will probably climb, Hohn said.

[Alpha]

sAng_hissyfit.gif Like the poor damn bees haven't had enough problems!!!


EDIS Code: BH-20120926-36685-USA
Date&Time: 2012-09-26
Continent: North-America
Country: USA
State/Prov.: State of Washington,
Location: Seattle region,

Experts and citizen scientists are tracking the "zombie bee" infection across the country. The insects have a parasite that causes them to fly at night and lurch around erratically until they die. The infection is another threat to bees that are needed to pollinate crops, in addition to the mysterious ailment "colony collapse disorder." The infection is as grim as it sounds: "Zombie bees" have a parasite that causes them to fly at night and lurch around erratically until they die. And experts say the condition has crept into Washington state. "I joke with my kids that the zombie apocalypse is starting at my house," said Mark Hohn, a novice beekeeper who spotted the infected insects at his suburban Seattle home. Hohn returned from vacation a few weeks ago to find many of his bees either dead or flying in jerky patterns and then flopping on the floor. He remembered hearing about zombie bees, so he collected several of the corpses and popped them into a pl astic bag. About a week later, the Kent man had evidence his bees were infected: the pupae of parasitic flies. "Curiosity got the better of me," Hohn said. The zombie bees were the first to be confirmed in Washington state, The Seattle Times reported. San Francisco State University biologist John Hafernik first discovered zombie bees in California in 2008.rnrnHafernik now uses a website to recruit citizen scientists like Hohn to track the infection across the country. Observers also have found zombie bees in Oregon and South Dakota. The infection is another threat to bees that are needed to pollinate crops. Hives have been failing in recent years due to a mysterious ailment called colony collapse disorder, in which all the adult honey bees in a colony suddenly die. The life cycle of the fly that infects zombie bees is reminiscent of the movie "Alien," the newspaper reported. A small adult female lands on the back of a honeybee and injects eggs into the bee's abdomen. The eggs hatch into maggots. "They basically eat the insides out of the bee," Hafernik said. After consuming their host Relevant Products/Services, the maggots pupate, forming a hard outer shell that looks like a fat, brown grain of rice. That's what Hohn found in the plastic bag with the dead bees. Adult flies emerge in three to four weeks. There's no evidence yet that the parasitic fly is a major player in the bees' decline, but it does seem the pest is targeting new hosts, said Steve Sheppard, chairman of the entomology department at Washington State University. "It may occur a lot more widely than we think," he said. That's what Hafernik hopes to find out with his website, zombeewatch.org. The site offers simple instructions for collecting suspect bees, watching for signs of parasites and reporting the results. Once more people start looking, the number of sightings will probably climb, Hohn said.

This is horrific Judee.

Most be some GMO parasites that we can thank Monsanto or other GM labs for

[maryals]

I agree with Alpha. It's just horrible!
Hopefully, the bees that survive all this, however few they may be, will be immune to whatever and will pass that immunity along.
If Mama Earth can survive that long

Mary and Baby

[Judee]

COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER, APIS - USA: (CALIFORNIA) 2012, SUSPECTED
************************************************** ****************

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Wed 30 Jan 2013
Source: EdHat Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Beekeepers Association
report [edited]
<http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=107958>


Massive honey bee die-off in Montecito
--------------------------------------
Last October [2012], Santa Barbara Bee Keeper's association [SBBA] was
called out to several backyard beekeepers' properties in response to
massive honey bee die-offs. Local amateur beekeeper, Carrie Kappel,
called SBBA when she noticed hundreds of dead and dying bees outside
her backyard beehive. "It was devastating to see the number of dead
bees outside the hive, and watch those in their death throes,
twitching and stumbling around in front of the hive, unable to fly. I
watched the whole hive go from healthy and vigorous to empty over a
few short weeks."

A total of 16 formerly healthy hives, with an average population of
30-60 000 bees each were lost. SBBA estimates about 750 000 bees died,
all within a 1.5 mile [2.4 km] radius. The Association submitted 4
test samples to Penn State University for a comprehensive pesticide
screening and just received the reports back from the USDA labs.

As SBBA leaders suspected, there were several commonly used pesticides
found in bee food stores, brood cells, and wax. These include
bifenthrin (found in hundreds of agricultural and household pesticide
products), chlorpyrifos (used on orchards, golf courses, and crops,
and banned from residential use), cyhalothrin (found in household and
commercial), and fipronil (used in over 50 products to control ants,
termites, fleas, and other insects). All of these chemicals are known
to be highly toxic to bees. Also found at low levels were 2 legal
miticides used by beekeepers to control mites. While this does not
prove that pesticides were behind the die-offs, it does point to them
as a possible factor.

According to Penn State Senior Extension Associate, Maryann Frazier,
"Honey bees across the country are being exposed to a great diversity
and sometimes high levels of pesticides. While the evidence associated
with the Montecito die-off is not conclusive, the symptoms of colony
deaths and detections of low levels of pesticides toxic to honey bees
are suspicious and cause for concern."

While SBBA is very upset about this loss, its leaders hope that by
spreading the word about the die-off, community members will become
more aware of the potential dangers of pesticides for honeybees and
other pollinators. The organization encourages pest control companies,
horticulturalists, landscape contractors, and homeowners to evaluate
the products that they are using and how they are being applied and
work to reduce risks to honey bees and other beneficial insects.

Honey bees have been in decline worldwide. Frazier notes, "We believe
that pesticide exposure is an important factor contributing to
pollinator decline and possibly colony collapse disorder (CCD)."
Colony collapse disorder has wiped out honey bee hives in the US and
elsewhere, threatening both the viability of commercial beekeeping and
the sustainability of the pollination services that honey bees provide
to agricultural crops, domestic gardens, and wild plants. Whatever the
cause of the Montecito die-off -- whether acute pesticide poisoning,
CCD, or other stresses -- it may be symptomatic of a general decline
in the quality of our environment for honey bees. "Honey bees and
other pollinators are getting hit hard, but there are things we can do
to reduce the threats to them," said SBBA president, Paul Cronshaw.

Pesticides applied to plants that are in bloom can be transferred to
the hive by bees foraging for nectar and pollen, and thus the
pesticides can impact the entire colony. SBBA urges Santa Barbara
community members to please speak with their gardener, pest control
company, and anyone else that may use these products to make sure that
they are being used properly. Commercial pesticides should only be
applied by registered, licensed pesticide applicators. They should be
applied carefully, according to the instructions on the label, and
only as needed, avoiding applying them to blooming plants and at times
when pollinators are active. "Working together, we can reduce both our
own exposures to pesticides, and also the honey bee's, so that she may
continue to help us feed the planet," says SBBA vice president, Todd
Bebb.

[byline: Todd Bebb]

--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail from HealthMap Alerts
<promed@promedmail.org>

[Recent research (see ProMED-mail posting no 20120330.1085129) has
suggested that pesticides were linked to the bee's colony collapse
disorder. Another interesting finding incriminates a virus (see
posting no 20120611.1164105), and a virulent strain in particular,
which is associated with the mite _Varroa destructor_. The whole
scenario appears complex and it is very likely that several factors
interact to cause colony collapse disorder.

[Alpha]

Global Disappearance of Bees

conspiracy theories, News, world truth April 9, 2013



by Eddie Levin

If you haven't read my previous article titled "Up to 12 million Bees Found Dead in Florida and No one Knows Why" click on the link.

I believe it was Albert Einstein that said that "if the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, man would have only four years to live". Basically his theory makes a lot of sense. No Bees, No Pollination! There is no question the bees are becoming extinct. Ask any “beekeeper” and they’ll tell you the same. I know there have been attempts at “alternative” Pollination but none have ever been successful. Only the Bees can do what GOD designed them to do.

Well for the last 7 years the bees worldwide have been disappearing and no one really knows why. The disorder has significantly affected bee populations since the 1970's with a sharp increase in losses since 2006. Now, as beekeepers return to their hives to prepare for spring pollination, they are finding that at least half of their bees are gone. This syndrome, named colony collapse disorder, or CCD, is characterized by the disappearance of adult honey bees from the hive, leaving the newborns to fend for themselves. The 2013 year now marks the highest loss on record with at least 50 percent of all European honeybees in the U.S. reported lost to CCD.

Silence of the Bees



http://worldtruth.tv/global-disappearance-of-bees/

[Alpha]

April 26 2013
Official EU research verifies bee holocaust caused by dangerous man-made poisons, Big Ag and Big Government do nothing

by Jonathan Benson, staff writer

(NaturalNews) A class of insecticide chemicals commonly applied to rapeseed, also known as canola here in the U.S., as well as sugar beets, corn, and various other crops is killing off bee populations across the globe, and a prominent environmental watchdog group is now demanding that these insecticides be immediately pulled from the market. As reported by the U.K.'s Daily Mail, a report issued by the U.K.'s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) confirms that neonicotinoid insecticides are to blame for mass bee die-offs.

The declaration by this prominent government advisory group comes following the release of data out of the E.U. showing that neonicotinoids contain compounds that interfere with bees' central nervous systems, and thus cause them to become confused while pollinating. Eventually, bees affected by these chemicals lose their ability to navigate back to the hive, forgetting where they are and how to get home, which results in them starving and dying en masse.

Back in January, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) determined that neonicotinoids, which have been in use since the early 1990s, are directly responsible for triggering an epidemic of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) all around the world. The agency went on to express opposition to the further use of neonicotinoid insecticides, particularly with regards to plants that are attractive to bees. But the European Commission was ultimately unable to garner enough votes to successfully implement a two-year ban on the chemicals, which has prompted EAC to issue its own call for a ban.

"If farmers had to pollinate fruit and vegetables without the help of insects, it would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and we would all be stung by rising food prices," says Joan Walley MP, chair of EAC, referring to the devastating losses that will occur in the absence of pollinating bees. "Defra (Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs) Ministers have refused to back EU efforts to protect pollinators and can't even come up with a convincing plan to encourage bee-friendly farming in the U.K."

UK, Germany primarily responsible for enabling continued 'armageddon' on bees

According to earlier reports, the European Commission was roadblocked in its attempt to protect bee populations by both the U.K. and Germany, which at the last minute failed to vote in favor of a two-year moratorium. The winners in the proposal's defeat, of course, are chemical companies like Syngenta and Bayer CropScience, both of which have a vested interest in neonicotinoids. The losers are not only bees, but the global population at large, which will suffer from crop failures and eventually starvation.

"Britain and Germany have caved in to the industry lobby and refused to ban bee-killing pesticides," Iain Keith from the non-profit environmental group Avaaz is quoted as saying by the U.K.'s Guardian. "[The] vote flies in the face of science and public opinion and maintains the disastrous chemical armageddon on bees, which are critical for the future of our food."

Sources for this article include:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk

http://www.naturalnews.com/035652_pe..._bees_ban.html

Article

[Judee]

This news is cause for celebration!! sBo_reflection2.gif


Bee-harming pesticides banned in Europe

EU member states vote in favour of continent-wide suspension of neonicotinoid pesticides
Damian Carrington
guardian.co.uk, Monday 29 April 2013



Europe will enforce the world's first continent-wide ban on widely used insecticides linked to serious harm in bees, after a European commission vote on Monday.

The landmark suspension is a victory for millions of environment campaigners concerned about dramatic declines in bees who were backed by experts at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). But it is a serious defeat for the chemical companies who make billions a year from the products and also UK ministers, who both argued that the ban will harm food production.

"Today's pesticide ban throws Europe's bees a vital lifeline, following a massive campaign backed by 2.6 million people," said Iain Keith, at Avaaz. "Europe is taking science seriously and must now put the full ban in place, to give bees the breathing space they need."

The vote by the 27 member states of the European Union to suspend the insect nerve agents was supported by most nations, but did not reach the required majority under EU voting rules. However, the hung vote hands the final decision to the European commission (EC) who will implement the ban. "It's done," said an EC source, indicating that a formal announcement on the ban is expected within weeks.

The EC argued that EFSA has provided "a strong, substantive and scientific case for the suspension", which it said was proportionate to the risk. Three neonicotinoids will be banned from use for two years on flowering crops such as corn, oil seed rape and sunflowers, upon which bees feed.

Bees and other insects are vital for global food production as they pollinate three-quarters of all crops. The plummeting numbers of pollinators in recent years has been blamed on disease, loss of habitat and, increasingly, the near ubiquitous use of neonicotinoid pesticides. A series of high-profile scientific studies has linked neonicotinoids - the world's most widely used insecticides - to huge losses in the number of queens produced and big increases in "disappeared" bees, those that fail to return from foraging trips.

Pesticide manufacturers and UK ministers argued that the science is inconclusive, but conservationists say the harm stemming from dying pollinators is even greater. In a private letter to Syngenta released to the Observer, the environment secretary, Owen Paterson, told the chemical company on 20 April that he was "extremely disappointed" by the proposed ban. He said that "the UK has been very active" in opposing it and "our efforts will continue and intensify in the coming days". Parliament's green watchdog, the environmental audit committee, investigated the issue of pollinators and concluded a ban was a necessary precaution and accused ministers of "extraordinary complacency".

Neonicotinoids have been widely used for more than decade and are used as seed treatments rather than sprays, meaning the insecticide pervades the growing plant, as well as its nectar and pollen. They are less harmful that some of the sprays they replaced, but scientific studies have increasingly linked them to poor bee health. Many, including the National Farmers' Union, accept that EU regulation is inadequate, as it only tests on honeybees and not the wild pollinators that service 90% of plants. The regulatory testing also only considers short term effects and does not consider the combined effects of multiple pesticides.

The chemical industry has warned that a ban on neonicotinoids would lead to the return of older, more harmful pesticides and crop losses. But campaigners point out that this has not happened during temporary suspensions in France, Italy and Germany and that the use of natural pest predators and crop rotation can tackle problems.

Christopher Connolly, a bee expert at the University of Dundee, said: "If neonicotinoids are not being replaced [with more harmful chemical], then absolutely I support the precautionary principle. I don't think that there is evidence that they would need to be replaced, but such decisions are not always evidence-based."

The use of neonicotinoids is also under attack in the US, where a coalition of beekeepers, environmental groups and food campaigners is suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency for failing to protect pollinators.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...-banned-europe

[Judee]

Researchers find high-fructose corn syrup may be tied to worldwide collapse of bee colonies
April 30th, 2013

(Phys.org) —A team of entomologists from the University of Illinois has found a possible link between the practice of feeding commercial honeybees high-fructose corn syrup and the collapse of honeybee colonies around the world. The team outlines their research and findings in a paper they've had published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Since approximately 2006, groups that manage commercial honeybee colonies have been reporting what has become known as colony collapse disorder—whole colonies of bees simply died, of no apparent cause. As time has passed, the disorder has been reported at sites all across the world, even as scientists have been racing to find the cause, and a possible cure. To date, most evidence has implicated pesticides used to kill other insects such as mites. In this new effort, the researchers have found evidence to suggest the real culprit might be high-fructose corn syrup, which beekeepers have been feeding bees as their natural staple, honey, has been taken away from them.

Commercial honeybee enterprises began feeding bees high-fructose corn syrup back in the 70's after research was conducted that indicated that doing so was safe. Since that time, new pesticides have been developed and put into use and over time it appears the bees' immunity response to such compounds may have become compromised.

The researchers aren't suggesting that high-fructose corn syrup is itself toxic to bees, instead, they say their findings indicate that by eating the replacement food instead of honey, the bees are not being exposed to other chemicals that help the bees fight off toxins, such as those found in pesticides.

Specifically, they found that when bees are exposed to the enzyme p-coumaric, their immune system appears stronger—it turns on detoxification genes. P-coumaric is found in pollen walls, not nectar, and makes its way into honey inadvertently via sticking to the legs of bees as they visit flowers. Similarly, the team discovered other compounds found in poplar sap that appear to do much the same thing. It all together adds up to a diet that helps bees fight off toxins, the researchers report. Taking away the honey to sell it, and feeding the bees high-fructose corn syrup instead, they claim, compromises their immune systems, making them more vulnerable to the toxins that are meant to kill other bugs.

More information: Honey constituents up-regulate detoxification and immunity genes in the western honey bee Apis mellifera, Published online before print April 29, 2013, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1303884110

Abstract
As a managed pollinator, the honey bee Apis mellifera is critical to the American agricultural enterprise. Recent colony losses have thus raised concerns; possible explanations for bee decline include nutritional deficiencies and exposures to pesticides and pathogens. We determined that constituents found in honey, including p-coumaric acid, pinocembrin, and pinobanksin 5-methyl ether, specifically induce detoxification genes. These inducers are primarily found not in nectar but in pollen in the case of p-coumaric acid (a monomer of sporopollenin, the principal constituent of pollen cell walls) and propolis, a resinous material gathered and processed by bees to line wax cells. RNA-seq analysis (massively parallel RNA sequencing) revealed that p-coumaric acid specifically up-regulates all classes of detoxification genes as well as select antimicrobial peptide genes. This up-regulation has functional significance in that that adding p-coumaric acid to a diet of sucrose increases midgut metabolism of coumaphos, a widely used in-hive acaricide, by ∼60%. As a major component of pollen grains, p-coumaric acid is ubiquitous in the natural diet of honey bees and may function as a nutraceutical regulating immune and detoxification processes. The widespread apicultural use of honey substitutes, including high-fructose corn syrup, may thus compromise the ability of honey bees to cope with pesticides and pathogens and contribute to colony losses.

http://phys.org/news/2013-04-high-fr...wide.html#nwlt

[maryals]

Well I'm glad they're finding some answers, now I hope they do something about it!

Mary and Baby

[Judee]

This is freaking insanity!!! sAng_scream.gif


May 9, 2013 by Common Dreams
Ignoring Bee Crisis, EPA Greenlights New 'Highly Toxic' Pesticide
- Lauren McCauley, staff writer

Despite new findings that prove a heightened crisis in US bee populations and a recent ban in Europe on similar chemical applications, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to further endanger the population Monday by approving a "highly toxic" new pesticide.

The "EPA continues to put industry interests first to exacerbate an already dire pollinator crisis," writes the group Beyond Pesticides.

The agency granted sulfoxaflor, a product of the Dow Chemical Company, "unconditional registration" for use on vegetables, fruits, barley, canola, ornamentals, soybeans and wheat among others, despite the EPA's own classification of the insecticide as "highly toxic to honey bees."

According to the Washington Examiner, the EPA's studies on the chemical's long-term effect on bees proved to be "inconclusive due to some issues with the study designs" and thus the EPA has proposed simply reducing the amount applied.

As part of their decision, the EPA approved new language for the sulfoxaflor labels which reads, "Do not apply this product at any time between 3 days prior to bloom and until after petal fall," during heightened pollinator activity.

Further, they approved an additional 'advisory pollinator statement':

Notifying known beekeepers within 1 mile of the treatment area 48 hours before the product is applied will allow them to take additional steps to protect their bees. Also limiting application to times when managed bees and native pollinators are least active, e.g., before 7 am or after 7pm local time or when temperature is below 55oF at the site of application, will minimize risk to bees.

Though the EPA believes this advisory to be “robust” enough to protect pollinators, environmental advocacy groups such as Beyond Pesticides believe such statements "not only underscore the risks to bees" but prove to be unrealistic since systemic pesticides, including sulfoxaflor, "continue to exist in the plant (including pollen and nectar) for longer periods of time that well surpasses the recommended application intervals, and therefore expose bees to residues longer than suggested."

And, in addition to harming bees, sulfoxaflor has been known to cause tumors and carcinomas in mice and rats and has been classified as "suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential."

Dismissing these concerns, the EPA alternately points to the "need for sulfoxaflor by industry and agriculture groups to control insects no longer being controlled by increasingly ineffective pesticide technologies," proving the ongoing and harmful nature of unsustainable techniques such as pesticide sprays.

Following Europe's announcement last week that they would suspend the use of bee-harming neonicotinoids in an effort to combat the rampant colony collapse crisis, many hoped the US would announce similar reforms.

However, following this week's announcement, groups say it is clear the EPA will continue pursue an "irresponsible" and "counter-intuitive" agenda in regards to bee health and the environment.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/09-3

[Alpha]

This is freaking insanity!!! sAng_scream.gif


May 9, 2013 by Common Dreams
Ignoring Bee Crisis, EPA Greenlights New 'Highly Toxic' Pesticide
- Lauren McCauley, staff writer

Despite new findings that prove a heightened crisis in US bee populations and a recent ban in Europe on similar chemical applications, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to further endanger the population Monday by approving a "highly toxic" new pesticide.

The "EPA continues to put industry interests first to exacerbate an already dire pollinator crisis," writes the group Beyond Pesticides.

The agency granted sulfoxaflor, a product of the Dow Chemical Company, "unconditional registration" for use on vegetables, fruits, barley, canola, ornamentals, soybeans and wheat among others, despite the EPA's own classification of the insecticide as "highly toxic to honey bees."

According to the Washington Examiner, the EPA's studies on the chemical's long-term effect on bees proved to be "inconclusive due to some issues with the study designs" and thus the EPA has proposed simply reducing the amount applied.

As part of their decision, the EPA approved new language for the sulfoxaflor labels which reads, "Do not apply this product at any time between 3 days prior to bloom and until after petal fall," during heightened pollinator activity.

Further, they approved an additional 'advisory pollinator statement':

Notifying known beekeepers within 1 mile of the treatment area 48 hours before the product is applied will allow them to take additional steps to protect their bees. Also limiting application to times when managed bees and native pollinators are least active, e.g., before 7 am or after 7pm local time or when temperature is below 55oF at the site of application, will minimize risk to bees.

Though the EPA believes this advisory to be “robust” enough to protect pollinators, environmental advocacy groups such as Beyond Pesticides believe such statements "not only underscore the risks to bees" but prove to be unrealistic since systemic pesticides, including sulfoxaflor, "continue to exist in the plant (including pollen and nectar) for longer periods of time that well surpasses the recommended application intervals, and therefore expose bees to residues longer than suggested."

And, in addition to harming bees, sulfoxaflor has been known to cause tumors and carcinomas in mice and rats and has been classified as "suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential."

Dismissing these concerns, the EPA alternately points to the "need for sulfoxaflor by industry and agriculture groups to control insects no longer being controlled by increasingly ineffective pesticide technologies," proving the ongoing and harmful nature of unsustainable techniques such as pesticide sprays.

Following Europe's announcement last week that they would suspend the use of bee-harming neonicotinoids in an effort to combat the rampant colony collapse crisis, many hoped the US would announce similar reforms.

However, following this week's announcement, groups say it is clear the EPA will continue pursue an "irresponsible" and "counter-intuitive" agenda in regards to bee health and the environment.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/09-3

Yes, both criminal and insane!!!!!

Insanity: US Approves Bee Death Pesticide as EU Bans It

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Anthony Gucciardi
Natural Society


Corporate politics is business as usual inside the United States, as I am once again shocked to report the EPA has sided with industry lobbyists over public health in approving a highly dangerous pesticide that the European Union recently decided to ban over fears of environmental devastation. Not only have neonicotinoid pesticides been linked repeatedly to mass bee deaths, also known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), but the continued use of such pesticides threatens other aspects of nature (and humans) as well.


What’s even more amazing is that the decision not only comes after the EU publicly discussed the major dangers surrounding the use of the pesticides, but after the USDA released a report surrounding the continued honeybee deaths and the related effects — a report in which they detailed pesticides to be a contributing factor. Just the impact on the honeybees alone, and we now know that these pesticides are killing aquatic life and subsequently the birds that feed upon them, amounts to a potential $200 billion in global damages per year. We’re talking about the devastation of over 100 crops, from apples to avocados and plums.


And there’s countless scientists and a large number of environmental science groups speaking out on this. The EPA has no lack of information the subject. And sure, there are other contributing factors to bee deaths, there’s no question about that. We have an environment right now being hit with Monsanto’s Roundup even in residential areas, we have chemical rain, we have insane amounts of EMF — but it’s pretty clear that neonicotinoid pesticides are at least a major contributing factor. And beyond that, they have no place in the food supply to begin with.


The Pesticide Action Network (PAN) details the EU ban that came right before the EPA acceptance of the death-linked pesticide:

“The EU vote comes after significant findings by the European Food Safety Agency that these pesticides pose an unacceptable risk to bees and their use should be restricted. Along with habitat loss and pathogens, a growing body of science points to neonicotinoid pesticides as a key factor in drastically declining bee populations.”

So why are they approving this pesticide to now pollute the United States in what potentially amounts to an even larger capacity than the EU? A move that will ultimately escalate the price of food worldwide due to the likely nature of continued bee deaths and subsequent crop impact? That’s the power of phony corporate science.


Source: http://naturalsociety.com/us-approves-bee-deathpesticide-as-eu-bans/

[Judee]

Published on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 by Common Dreams
Pesticide Producers Turn to 'Bee-Washing' to Fight Backlash
- Andrea Germanos, staff writer

Pesticide makers have taken to framing themselves as stewards of the bees as backlash over their products' links to mass bee deaths grows.

"Scientists, consumer groups, beekeepers and others blame the devastating rate of bee deaths on the growing use of pesticides sold by agrichemical companies to boost yields of staple crops such as corn," Reuters' Carey Gillam reports, and this uproar worries officials at Bayer and Syngenta, who make the pesticides, as well as Monsanto, DuPont and other companies who used them as coatings for the seed they sell.

So just as some companies have tried to "greenwash" their toxic products, these agrichemical companies are engaging in "bee-washing." Gillam continues:

Monsanto Co is hosting a "Bee Summit." Bayer AG is breaking ground on a "Bee Care Center." And Sygenta AG is funding grants for research into the accelerating demise of honeybees in the United States, where the insects pollinate fruits and vegetables that make up roughly a quarter of the American diet.

The agrichemical companies are taking these initiatives at a time when their best-selling pesticides are under fire from environmental and food activists who say the chemicals are killing off millions of bees. The companies say their pesticides are not the problem, but critics say science shows the opposite.

The “Bayer Bee Care Centers”—one in Germany, the other in North Carolina—are an attempt to show the company's commitment to bees and sustainable agriculture, it says.

“Bayer is committed to environmental stewardship and sustainable agricultural practices, including the protection of beneficial insects such as honey bees,” Professsor Wolfgang Plischke, the member of the Bayer AG Board of Management responsible for Technology, Innovation and Sustainability, announced in a statement on the company's website last year. “We have been providing products specifically designed to ensure bee health for more than 25 years,” Plischke said.

Monsanto, too, has stated that it "knows that honey bees are a key component to successful sustainable agriculture globally" and that it "is committed to sustainable agriculture."

In April the European Union put a two-year ban on the use of a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids. The decision "disappointed" neonicotinoid maker Bayer CropScience. The company "shares the concerns surrounding bee health," it says, and believes that continued use of such pesticide products is "vital."

The agrichemical companies have dismissed numerous studies linking the pesticides to bee deaths, instead pointing to other factors such as mites.

The use of this group of pesticides continues in the U.S., however, despite a recent EPA and USDA study that showed a strong link between the pesticides and mass bee deaths.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/22-10