nicotine kills....bees

Lord Coke

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This is a classic Obama Chicago politics. We are on the verge of the biggest agricultural meltdown since the dust bowl and he's been trying to blame this on mites to help out his donors at Brayer

http://www.vice.com/read/looks-like...ut-whats-killing-the-bees?utm_source=vicefbus


Then on May 9, the results of a major experiment from Chengshen Lu of the Harvard School of Public Health followed up on previous studies into whether neonicotinoid pesticides are the culprit. His report showed that they probably are. And he means it this time.

Lu's previous study in 2012 had suggested that the bees were merely being injured by the pesticides during nice weather, and then dying only months later from the long term effects of their condition, perhaps exacerbated by those pesky varroa mites.

But the new findings suggest that the pesticides are flipping on some other biological mechanism that's killing them, seemingly without the help of mites. "We demonstrated again in this study that neonicotinoids are highly likely to be responsible for triggering CCD in honey bee hives that were healthy prior to the arrival of winter," the report said. It has an air of certainty, and maybe that's what's made it so sensational.

To its credit, the USDA website features a report acknowledging the possibility of blaming neonicotinoids, but the pesticides are mentioned only below the section on varroa mites. I called them to find out how they were responding to Lu's study, and they refused to comment on short notice. The person I spoke to hadn't read the report.
 
They are already suspending the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on flowering crops in Europe.
There's been a lot of investigation though, and the relevant bodies in the US, UK, Canada and Australia still consider the risks to be unsubstantiated or minimal with appropriate use.
 
Ya the real issue is the bee issues has been entirely blamed on mites so unlike Europe we don't have a baseline this could be bad for bees if used improperly premise. I'm not saying there already hasn't been research but that research hasn't' been placed into policy.
 
Well they don't have mites to blame here, so they are focusing on putting better instructions on the packaging... as if that'd stop farmers abusing pesticides.
 
Well they don't have mites to blame here, so they are focusing on putting better instructions on the packaging... as if that'd stop farmers abusing pesticides.

The pesticide makers, the farmers, and frankly all of us are going to regret it if the bees die off.
 
Well they don't have mites to blame here, so they are focusing on putting better instructions on the packaging... as if that'd stop farmers abusing pesticides.

If the same thing is happening where the mites don't exist wouldn't that be a real good indicator to the mite-theory supporters that something else is the culprit? And yeah, farmers will surely follow the new and improved instructions. :wink:
 
I have a hard time believing that the ones at the top don't know what is killing the bees.

Considering the repercussions of such things, even to the national security and economic level, to see them spinning in circles just reeks of a cover up.
 
Well they don't have mites to blame here, so they are focusing on putting better instructions on the packaging... as if that'd stop farmers abusing pesticides.

Sorry to burst your bubble turbo but most farmers use less than recommended directions due to the cost of pesticides. I sell farm chemical, I'm filling anhydrous tanks at the moment.
 
Far leftists once again defending the destruction of family farms. It's the norm, especially here.
 
So big tobacco and GMO corn are the culprit to the bee colony collapse syndrome?

If they really wanted to know for sure, they can shut both big tobacco and GMO corn down for a bit and see what happens. I would not complain. I think only the people that smoke, work for, buy GMO corn would.
 
Sorry to burst your bubble turbo but most farmers use less than recommended directions due to the cost of pesticides. I sell farm chemical, I'm filling anhydrous tanks at the moment.

There's no bubble tiger, I'm perfectly aware of what happens down on the farm.
If there aren't cases of exceeding the recommended concentrations due to misuse, abuse or over use, there is unlikely to be any issue. The studies which found negative effects were based on concentrations around 7-10 times what should be found.
Point was, if that's happening then it's not because they misread the directions.

Unfortunately environmental science doesn't seem to have much impact on farming actions without regulation, as we can see locally in the destruction of the Murray-Darling due to land clearing, irrigation and the use of fertilisers.
 
Yeah, the science supporting neonics causing bee CCD is paper thin.
Neonics only show up in less than 5% of pollen samples (http://www.plosone.org/.../10.1371/journal.pone.0009754...).

It's unlikely that neonicotinoid pesticides are affecting bee survival, according to a recent review (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24363549). Consistently, the relevant research reports that neonics do not significantly affect bee health (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19508759 , http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19449641 , http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17598537).

Ultimately, a 4 year field study found that thiamethoxam does not significantly affect bee colony survival (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24194871).

Mostly laboratory studies - low-tier research - report that neonicotinoids are harmful, while field studies - superior research - find no harmful effect of neonics on bee health. "Many laboratory studies described lethal and sublethal effects of neonicotinoids on the foraging behavior, and learning and memory abilities of bees, while no effects were observed in field studies at field-realistic dosages" (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3338325/).

Basically, there's no evidence proving that neonics are killing the bees.

Australia loves neonics, but they have not experienced honey bee losses (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3869053/). On the other hand, many honey bees died in France, despite French restrictions on imidacloprids (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3869053/).//
 
Far leftists once again defending the destruction of family farms. It's the norm, especially here.

farmers have been getting handouts forever now..

And lets be honest small local farmers who grow all natural produce don't get any handouts from the government..

The handouts all go to cash crops like corn and such, nothing being subsidized is actually good to be ingested on a daily basis, like fruits and veggies...

"Family Farms" are as corrupt as any other business.


More BS propaganda..
 
So big tobacco and GMO corn are the culprit to the bee colony collapse syndrome?

If they really wanted to know for sure, they can shut both big tobacco and GMO corn down for a bit and see what happens. I would not complain. I think only the people that smoke, work for, buy GMO corn would.

and these companies are getting the biggest handout.. To the tune of multi billions.. Their lobbying groups are strong in the dark side of the force..

Why subsidize broccoli and make it affordable when we can feed our public crap laden with corn syrup.
 
Damned cigarettes. First they take mah papi, then my grand papi... now they takin' mah bees!
 
Yeah, the science supporting neonics causing bee CCD is paper thin.
Neonics only show up in less than 5% of pollen samples (http://www.plosone.org/.../10.1371/journal.pone.0009754...).

It's unlikely that neonicotinoid pesticides are affecting bee survival, according to a recent review (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24363549). Consistently, the relevant research reports that neonics do not significantly affect bee health (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19508759 , http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19449641 , http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17598537).

Ultimately, a 4 year field study found that thiamethoxam does not significantly affect bee colony survival (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24194871).

Mostly laboratory studies - low-tier research - report that neonicotinoids are harmful, while field studies - superior research - find no harmful effect of neonics on bee health. "Many laboratory studies described lethal and sublethal effects of neonicotinoids on the foraging behavior, and learning and memory abilities of bees, while no effects were observed in field studies at field-realistic dosages" (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3338325/).

Basically, there's no evidence proving that neonics are killing the bees.

Australia loves neonics, but they have not experienced honey bee losses (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3869053/). On the other hand, many honey bees died in France, despite French restrictions on imidacloprids (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3869053/).//

Get out of here with your facts! We have chemical companies and GMO's to blame for something!
 
If the same thing is happening where the mites don't exist wouldn't that be a real good indicator to the mite-theory supporters that something else is the culprit? And yeah, farmers will surely follow the new and improved instructions. :wink:

It doesn't happen here to the extent it happens in countries with varroa mites though.
Also our bees are less inbred than Americans.
Misuse of pesticides is unlikely to be widespread enough to be the cause anyway.
I think they are looking at the interaction of fungicides, pesticides and parasites as the most probable cause.
 
If the same thing is happening where the mites don't exist wouldn't that be a real good indicator to the mite-theory supporters that something else is the culprit? And yeah, farmers will surely follow the new and improved instructions. :wink:

Since CCD is still evident in Europe more than a year after the neonicotinoid ban went into effect, and Australian bees are thriving while neonicotinoid use is high, I think the link between the mites and CCD is pretty solid, even if the mites aren't the one and only cause.
 
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