What Corn-Canola Comparisons Tell Us about Neonics and Bees – Plenty Actually
May 6, 2014
From: BlackSeaGrain
“Why are there problems for bees associated with the growing corn but not canola, when both are planted using neonic-treated seed?”
A great question: asked from the floor during a recent Pollination Guelph panel discussion of which I was a part. The question brought everything into focus, writes Terry Daynard, former University of Guelph crop science professor and associate dean.
The implied assumption – more bee problems with corn versus canola – is quite well supported. Although 70-80% of Canadian neonic seed treatment occurs in Western Canada, mostly with canola, the complaints about neonic-linked bee deaths are almost all from Ontario and Quebec where corn is more dominant.
Morrissey’s data show neonic-in-water levels about the same magnitude as that for caffeine in the Great Lakes. In Quebec, Dr. Fournier reported elevated neonic levels at or above LD50 levels for bees in some surface waters, but subsequent calculations show she overestimated the risk to bees by at least a 20-fold factor.
And while much of the anti-neonic outcry in Central Canada does come from traditional anti-pesticide voices, data such as that provided by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency do show linkages among corn, neonics and bee health, at least for some beekeepers.
Jim Coneybeare, a vice president of the Ontario Bee Association, told a major Farm & Food Care meeting last September that his bees thrive when making honey from canola (almost certainly grown from neonic-treated seed) but do poorly near corn and soybeans.
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