Review of Bee Health: Correcting the Record Interventions
The Washington Post: Was a USDA scientist muzzled because of his bee research? https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/was-a-usda-scientist-muzzled-because-of-his-bee-research/2016/03 [1st comment]
The record shows that USDA did NOT muzzle anyone, see here http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=12712 The record is also clear that it is the deformed wing virus, spread around the world by the varroa destructor mite, not neonicotinoids, that is the threat to bees, http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=12667
Grainews: Facts about bees, birds are next:Something is afoot in the bee community, but is agriculture really to blame? http://www.grainews.ca/2016/03/21/facts-about-bees-birds-are-next/
Bee health decline has been definitively linked to the varroa destructor mite which carries Deformed Wing Virus and other pathogens, http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=12682.
It’s been clear for some time that neonicotinoids are NOT responsible for CCD or other bee health ills. Of note, Australia, which makes widespread use of neonicotinoids but is varroa free, has one of the healthiest bee populations in the world, http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=12551.
The Free Press, the official student newspaper of the University of Southern Maine: Sustainability & ME: Birds and Bees http://usmfreepress.org/2016/03/21/sustainability-me-birds-and-bees/
The biggest threat to honeybees and other pollinators is pestilence and pathogens, not pesticides. See the article in Nature on explaining how the varroa destructor mite and Deformed Wing Virus are harming bees around the world, http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=12682.
The Korea Times: What is killing off the bees? http://www.koreatimesus.com/what-is-killing-off-the-bees/#comment-99004
Bees are being harmed by the varroa destructor mite which spreads Deformed Wing Virus, not neonicotoinoids. Please see the Nature article here, http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=12682
The Washington Post: Maryland’s honeybees are being massacred, and the weapon might be in your house https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/03/24/marylands-honeybees-are-being-massacred-and-the-weapon-might-be-in-your-house/
What’s killing honeybees is deformed wing virus spread by the varroa destructor mite, http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=12682. Bees need science not hype and hysteria.
Tech Times: With Bees Disappearing, Will Springtime Bring Colonies Of The Pollinating Insects Back? http://www.techtimes.com/articles/144636/20160328/with-bees-disappearing-will-springtime-bring-colonies-of-the-pollinating-insects-back.htm
Bees aren’t disappearing. The number of bee colonies in the US is stable and there hasn’t been a reported case of CCD in four years, http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=12776
Treehugger: Maryland to become first state to ban bee-killing pesticides http://www.treehugger.com/environmental-policy/maryland-become-1st-state-ban-bee-killing-pesticides.html
Three truths about pollinator health:
1. Bees aren’t being massacred by neonics, it’s the varroa destructor mite and Deformed Wing Virus that’s the primary threat to bee health, http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=12682
2. There is no bee-pocalypse, the number of bee colonies in the US is stable, http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=12327
3. There has not been a case of Colony Collapse Disorder in the US in four years,
http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=12776