Evaluation of Canadian Bee Mortalities that Coincided with Corn Planting in Spring 12

[honeydrunk]

I agree. It would be great to have evidence based facts; excluding extraneous variables in controlled studies, to get to the bottom of this. Then the facts can be used to affect change.

Wasent there a WikiLeaks article posted by said company about how dangerous it was, and how their own scientists were advising against its use?

[honeydrunk]

I cant speak for these beekeepers, I dont know of any law suits against the farmer. I doubt it, that beekeeper would have a hard time finding property to put his bees on,...

, but if your referring to bailouts related to CCD,.? What CCD outbreak are you referring to in Canada?

In 2007 many provinces had compensation packages you could apply for, I dont think that is case any longer.

[rkereid]

Our area is pretty much all corn and soy, so it is a definite possibility. Also the beek in question is like 3rd generation, his whole life kinda beekeeper so it would seem rather odd for a guy like that to suffer such damaging losses, though im a noob so I dont know either way.

With varroa mites, even longtime beeks have losses, treat or not. You would have thought treating would have alleviated some losses depending on how it was done and when.

[Ian]

In 2007 many provinces had compensation packages you could apply for, I dont think that is case any longer.

that must of been a provincial program

[Markt]

Not to hijack the thread, but the picture on this site shows what looks like classic varroa/viral collapse. All the untreated deadouts in our area since last October look like this. Small cluster with some uncapped brood outside the cluster area (indicating the cluster size before the collapse), starved in cold weather because the cluster is not big enough to touch the honey. We are in a rural area with no big ag, only woods, abandoned fields, and pasture land, and mostly natural forage. The only pesticides of concern are from homeowners, and I don't think that equals 100s of acres of corn or soy and the accompanying pesticide use. I think varroa is the problem indicated in this picture, especially last year with the mild winter and early spring on east coast. Translates to more winter loss following such a season.

Just seeing that picture, you'd be right absolutely. Unfortunately the photographer missed the important part that mite levels tested reasonable and many were strong doubles the week before. The main symptom seen by these beekeepers was a large number of bees (Really large number) dead and dying within a couple feet of the hive. Samples were taken from each reported site which consisted of 230 separate yards and each one tested positive for high levels of clothiandan. Many bees were observed to have pollen baskets full.