Archives – October, 2013
The Welsh Government’s update report on their Action Plan for Pollinators in Wales is attached here. The document includes a summary of the responses received during the government’s public consultation process on the draft document. The summary report also includes “the outcomes and areas for action listed below have changed in the final published Action Plan for Pollinators in response to the consultation.”
The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE) was one of two research institutions participating in the proceedings.
October 31, 2013
From: CropLife Canada
OTTAWA, Oct. 29, 2013 — /CNW/ – A holistic view of the challenges facing bee populations in a region of southern Ontario is required to protect honey bees.
Despite wide-spread international agreement that bee health is impacted by a combination of factors, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) continues to focus exclusively on the role of neonicotinoid pesticides in one specific Canadian region. Canada’s plant science industry is calling on the Canadian government to broaden its examination of the issue to ensure other problems facing pollinators – and the experience of beekeepers in other parts of the country – are not overlooked as solutions to this important, but complex, situation are sought.
October 30, 2013
From: University of California, Riverside
Study by UC Riverside-led team shows pollutant metal kills honey bees or delays their development
By Iqbal Pittalwala
In areas of selenium contamination, the honey bee may be at risk.
Photo credit: Wikimedia CommonsRIVERSIDE, Calif. — Traditionally, honey bee research has focused on environmental stressors such as pesticides, pathogens and diseases. Now a research team led by entomologists at the University of California, Riverside has published a study that focuses on an anthropogenic pollutant: selenium (Se).
The researchers found that the four main forms of Se in plants — selenate, selenite, methylselenocysteine and selenocystine — cause mortality and delays in development in the honey bee.
October 28, 2013
Editor’s Note: We call special attention to the post that follows. The author makes a number of fundamental points all backed up by data including” “All these facts are ignored by anti-pesticide activists in their clamor for an immediate ban on neonicotinoid pesticides.” The author describes in detail the fact that bee population are increasing throughout the world and bee die-off’s are a cyclical phenomenon that has occurred routinely through history. Equally important he makes the sound point that there is a big difference between the physical health of a bee and the economic health of beekeepers. Surprisingly a major Canadian News station failed to understand the aforementioned difference which required CRE to explain it in detail.
Daily Caller
October 27, 2013
From: KentOnline (UK)
by Nick Lillitos
Officials have been stung into action this week to address the tens of thousands of bees being lost in Kent from a dreaded virus plaguing colonies across the world.
Described by Kent County Council as “a disaster,” the authority and experts at Hadlow College are holding a ‘Bee Summit’ today with the aim of rebuilding the rapidly declining colonies.
Agriculturists fear a disease spread by the varroa parastic mite is so decimating hives that it could eventually lead to big food shortages as flowering crops are not pollinated on Kent farms.
October 25, 2013
Editor’s Note: The following is a comment posted in response to the LA Cubed article, “Why Isn’t Backyard Beekeeping Legal in Los Angeles Yet?“
From: LA Cubed
If you’re concerned about local garden pollinators, you can support them by making nesting boxes for Mason bees.
Mason bees are natives and excellent pollinators, but they’re solitary bees, not social bees like honeybees – they have no queens and workers, no hives – just individual bees. They don’t make wax or honey.
They’re not at all aggressive – they can sting, but usually only do so if you squeeze them or step on them.
October 23, 2013
On Saturday October 19, 2013, the Canadian news program, 16×9, featured a segment titled, Flight of the Bees. The focus of the story was on bee health decline. Focusing on the interviews of two individuals, beekeeper Jim Coneybeare and researcher Christian Krupke, the story attributes the decline of bee health to neonicotinoids. As outlined below, neonicotinoids’ role in regards to declining bee health is misplaced and unsupported by the science.
The Science Shows Varroa Mites are the Cause of Bee Health Decline
October 22, 2013
From: HispanicBusiness.com
Staci Matlock, The Santa Fe New Mexican
Western honey bee (Jon Sullivan, Creative Commons)
Oct. 17–Most of the time, bees are gentle little pollinators busy making honey.
But when bee colonies aren’t managed properly in cities and towns, they can be dangerous. “Good urban beekeepers are the best defense for bees that end up in the wrong place,” said Joran Viers, the agriculture agent with the Bernalillo County Cooperative Extension Service.
Beekeepers can move the bees before they hurt anyone and keep bees safe from wary people ready to decimate the colony with pesticides.
October 21, 2013
From: AgProfessional
Monsanto recently announced its commitment to honey bee health at the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting with support from the Keystone Center, American Honey Producers Association, American Beekeeping Federation, World Wildlife Fund, Project Apis m. (PAm), and commodity groups. The multi-stakeholder coalition will include individuals involved in honey bee health as well as new stakeholders, which include agriculture commodity groups, industry groups, government agencies, environmental NGOs, and agriculture companies, all focused on improving honey bee health.
October 16, 2013
From: The New Zealand Herald
By Graeme Peters
Fifty years ago, a ground-breaking book credited with helping launch the modern environmentalist movement was published.
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring provided an insightful look at the development and use of crop protection products and the unintended impacts of first generation pesticides.
Carson’s research is today recognised by the manufacturers of agrichemicals as an important book for the crop protection industry, consumer wellbeing and environmental safety.
Silent Spring was primarily about the impact of the insecticide DDT on bird life. The book’s thesis was that pesticide use harmed not only animals and birds, but also humans.
October 15, 2013
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