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37 million bees dead

30K views 75 replies 30 participants last post by  wdale 
#1 ·
Saw this on Facebook.

Soil Tree Adaptation Grass Compost


ELMWOOD - Local beekeepers are finding millions of their bees dead just after corn was planted here in the last few weeks. Dave Schuit, who has a honey operation in Elmwood, lost 600 hives, a total of 37 million bees.
“Once the corn started to get planted our bees died by the millions,” Schuit said. He and many others, including the European Union, are pointing the finger at a class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids, manufactured by Bayer CropScience Inc. used in planting corn and some other crops. The European Union just recently voted to ban these insecticides for two years, beginning December 1, 2013, to be able to study how it relates to the large bee kill they are experiencing there also.
Local grower Nathan Carey from the Neustadt, and National Farmers Union Local 344 member, says he noticed this spring the lack of bees and bumblebees on his farm. He believes that there is a strong connection between the insecticide use and the death of pollinators.
At the farm of Gary Kenny, south west of Hanover, eight of the 10 hives he kept for a beekeeper out of Kincardine, died this spring just after corn was planted in neighbouring fields.
What seems to be deadly to bees is that the neonicotinoid pesticides are coating corn seed and with the use of new air seeders, are blowing the pesticide dust into the air when planted. The death of millions of pollinators was looked at by American Purdue University. They found that, “Bees exhibited neurotoxic symptoms, analysis of dead bees revealed traces of thiamethoxam/clothianidin in each case. Seed treatments of field crops (primarily corn) are the only major source of these compounds.
Source: http://www.thepost.on.ca/2013/06/19/bees-dying-by-the-millions-N
 
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#2 ·
Posted here yesterday, And totaly not true... read the article, bees tested and nothing found... then they go on to discredit testing. saying "testing only shows none issues" Testing for neonics is known.......

And 37 million dead bees from Planter dust wold be a record and ALL OVER the news.. not is a poorly written article like this one....... the article is really about planting flowers on the roadside...
 
#3 ·
Neonics have been tested extensively. The results have shown that they do not transcend the growth cycle to the pollen, Although dust directly from the seed coating can be harmful to honey bees. Standard planting techniques usually keep it to a minimum resulting in little exposure to honey bees. Following recommendations of the department of agriculture and planting early A.M. when dew id on ground, and other times of high moisture further reduces danger to bees. The reality of it is neonics are far less harmful to bees that conventional insecticides and their application.
 
#4 ·
In fact, neonicotinoids are so harmless and so beneficial that you can spray your whole hive with them - prophylactically, they can be used as food supplement (to build your character), to solve global warming (as well as global cooling), bring peace to the middle east and remove our dependency on the fossil fuels.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I am a long time beekeeper, much longer than even this forum, and I learned never to put my bees near GM corn fields, ever. If you have lost dozens of colonies as a result of keeping your bees near a large cornfield, you will learn not to.

Of course, lobbyists would argue otherwise: that's their job. Sure, there is no global warming, either. Sure, bees are not dying. Sure, this nicotine-based chemical is harmless like milk. People will say and do anything for a buck.

Not one tobacco executive has ever admitted how nicotine is addictive! That was under oath!

Tell you what. Situate your own bees near GM cornfields as many as for three years; put a few dozen colonies, do your experiment, and follow the result. You may not lose yours perhaps, but I have mine under best practice.

You say nicotine is not addictive; sure, I believe you.

I live the fact.
 
#16 ·
Tell you what. Situate your own bees near GM cornfields as many as for three years; put a few dozen colonies, do your experiment, and follow the result. You may not lose yours perhaps, but I have mine under best practice.
Maybe you have more corn grown in OK than here in my part of NY, but I have never lost hives because they were close to fields of corn. Not as far asd I know. Usually what people see as cause and effect isn't accurate. WE often think emotionally and don't establish the facts. But you could be right in your assumption.
 
#10 ·
My hives are also near planted corn, just after the planting I had quite a few bees on the ground in front of the hives lethargic and then dying.... maybe a coincidence, but the "coincidence" hasn't happened since the planting, and I walk out to my hives daily to visit. Poisoning from this corn is something I am going to consider as a real possibility. Let's see what happens next year and lets hope the bees survive.
 
#11 ·
In theory dist from planting seed corn could drift to near by hives. However I would think that the drift would have to be close by within a hundred feet or so. I would be sure to place my hives further away. Also if you have a chance to place a sprinkler in the path of the drift (wind) this would wash the air.
I am totally against GMO and all these new seeds being Round up Ready. Mark my word within the next five years we will have a new disease that can not be explained.
 
#12 ·
The sprinkler thing is a pretty good idea, I may try that. I agree, I think we will see some issues with GMO's also, but at the very least I would like to be able to choose the food I buy and that is going to be difficult without appropriate labeling. But back on topic, My hives are as far away from the fields as I can get them which is about 80 yards. Again, I'm not sure the problems I had are related to the planting, it could have happened during a crop spray a mile away but the timing was quite coincidental. I am going to monitor it next year and hopefully we don't see this issue again.
 
#13 ·
As I said, I saw this on Facebook. I have no knowledge of fact or fiction. However, it does surprise me how easily opinions are verbalized without clarifying supposed facts. People say neonics are bad, neonics are not bad; they cause this, they cause nothing; tests show positive, tests show nothing; no one can believe anything because of the contradictions and confusion.

My questions to all the nay-sayers are;
• Did 37 million bees (600 hives) actually die?
• If they did, is it really coincidence?
• Who all did the tests?
• What actual tests were done?
• How was data collected and analyzed?
• Were the tests valid, accurate, and reliable?
• What variables were addressed and controlled, and were there any that weren’t?
• What external monitoring and accountability was in place?
GM Charlie; you say it is “not true.”
• Did you actually investigate?
• Did you read the actual lab results with scrutiny?
• Have you studied and done research to formulate true objective deductions?
• Have you done tests yourself?
• What are, and where are, the published results of the studies you have done?
• Have you actually spoken to the man whose bees died?

Demands for indisputable evidence-based results must be made, and wild opinionated conjecture must be debunked. Lies and suppositions have been muddying the view of the facts so no one can see the truth. What is the TRUTH?
 
#18 ·
GM Charlie; you say it is “not true.”
• Did you actually investigate?
• Did you read the actual lab results with scrutiny?
• Have you studied and done research to formulate true objective deductions?
• Have you done tests yourself?
• What are, and where are, the published results of the studies you have done?
• Have you actually spoken to the man whose bees died?

Demands for indisputable evidence-based results must be made, and wild opinionated conjecture must be debunked. Lies and suppositions have been muddying the view of the facts so no one can see the truth. What is the TRUTH?

Actually the QUestions you ask were answered in the article, Bees were tested, nothing found, ownwers response was the same... "it was the corn" It is an undeniable fact that many people refuse to see whats in front of them... We Had a guy last year sqawking the same story... IL state be inspectors investigated and found Foulbrood in every one of his hives... and yet hes still out there claiming they lied, it was GMO......
Not saying this guy has FB, just saying even when the lab test showed it wasn't pesticides, he refuses to belive...

Neonics ARE harmful to bees... in fact deadly, and planter dust CAN be a problem... Know what types of planters your farmers are useing and act accordingly... My self we don't put bees next to corn until AFTER its planted.........

And remember the options..... crop dusters full of pesticides covering EVERTHING, boom sprayers makeing repeated trips, again COVERING EVERYTHING.........
cars kill people, proven fact, but the overall good far outweighs the options... such is Neonicitoids.......get ALL the facts, instead of just squawking and parroting silly hype, thats my theory... try to understand the real picture.....

Mowing the grass kills more bees than neonics in my yards.
 
#14 ·
OK Pontius Pilate. The truth will set you free. I'm sure, sooner or later they will figure out exact mechanism how this particular poison kills bees. They will pat each other on the back and write a paper about it. Meanwhile most of the people came to the same conclusion years before. How did those uneducated unenlightened peasants managed to figure something out that takes scientists decades to figure out? It is called experience. Meanwhile true scientific minds will keep using poison and muse: "How come all the bees are dying?". I think it is Einstein who gave definition of insanity as: "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
 
#19 ·
I would have more respect for the GM stuff out there if they were truly GMO instead of simply a vehicle to sell more Round-up. Heck, you can make your own Round-up by mixing vinegar and soap water. Why do we have to be sold a petro-chemical to do the job? If you are going to do GM crops, why not do something where the crops can cope with infertile soil or make more fruit/seed? They just make it tolerant to their chemicals. how does that help humanity? It helps their bottom line, but not so much the world.

Bee killing is a whole different issue.
 
#26 ·
Has anyone noticed that the topic was about Neonicotinoids. and Not GMO! Most tend to manipulate facts to produce the results they wish. Although I do not believe neonics are the end all be all of the nations pesticides problems. I do believe that for now they are better than the alternative Have we all forgot DDT.

People on the left tend to interpreted information in a manner that bolsters their belief, while people on the right tend to do the same.
Both sides blend information from studies related to but not intended to discover the same information to make it sound as though it if the gospel fact. as in blending beliefs about GMO with that of Neonics to produce a logical conclusion with the results one desires to prove their point. Or perpetuate the myth that without honey bees we would starve. both sides use the same exact information in proof of two different conclusions.
Compile this with the chicken little's who think that past incidents stand as concrete proof that the future will bring the results they suspect. and it becomes nearly imposable to differentiate fact from fiction.

It is a sound practice to not take anything on the interned as the gospel. If you want to know the truth get the actual papers as written by the research team and read them Also read the accreditations of the researcher and any testing companies used in the research. I have read many papers in which the writer, NEVER actually did research, but simply compiled information from other research. then formed his/her own hypotheses.

Although research done by the labs at PSU indicated that neonics do not transcend plant growth to the pollen and nectar. and following recommended planting procedures minimize exposure, it is not within sound reason to place bee hives in an area where residual drift can affect the bees as it has been determined that the coating on the seeds IS harmful to bees. remember that it all depends on the individual doing the planting, and that they will make a diligent effort to minimize non target exposure.

As beekeepers we must understand that although we may think differently. our bees, are not the most important agricultural resource in the nation. We must all use education tempered with understanding to reach a middle ground between all aspects of life and livelihood that will benefit the human race as a whole. We must to approach every aspect with an open mine. in consideration of the viewpoint of others.
 
#29 ·
Someone mentioned neonic/GMO being a separate issue. The current GMO crops are mostly designed to better tolerate neonics - so they are delicately intertwined.

Nor is it a Left/Right issue. Some would have us believe that. It's more of a consumer/control issue.
 
#30 ·
As my bees sit between acres and acres of corn and soybeans you'd think my modest 20+ hives should spontainously explode, yet thanks to some well time rain and moderate temps I may get a bumper crop this year. They've been there since I started a short 7 years ago, so they should have all types of build up in the wax, pollen, population, queens, etc. I should be a poster child for CCD if all the neonic claims were true. Have I lost hives? You bet, but mostly due to operator error. A few overwinter deaths that left me stumped but I put a swarm or nuc right back in there and away they go.

By all means avoid putting your bees from locations you deem unacceptable due to GMO and neonics. It leaves more sites for those of us who don't buy the hype.
 
#33 ·
If I lose 10% to neonics, I can probably be happy with that. For several reasons. First, I can with a SMALL amount of care limit exposure, second, 10% loss is way under what winter causes and its related issues....

And I don't poop my pants every time I hear a plane... something I used to do with crop dusting....... Want to be nervous? watch a duster working the fields around your hives knowing there is no way in heck you can move them fast enough.....
 
#38 ·
Nabber86;

Sounds like your path was the same one I found. We cannot believe all the things posted on the internet. There are far too many agendas, motives, and diabolical purposes. The inconsistencies of political ads and campaign lies should have revealed that to us. Before we believe a story, or buy into an inductive response, we must know the highest truth. Finding the truth is not easy. It is hard work. Someone has to be acknowledged as a trustworthy source. The knowledge of data collection, studies, testing and measures, plus interpreting results must be something that bee keepers learn. That way we are not fooled or mislead; either on purpose or accidentally. Stories and studies must be challenged.

Who are the trustworthy sources that can search out and weigh the information and judge it correctly? What resources are available for American Bee Keepers to fund legitimate investigative efforts as we can get real accurate results?

When it was discovered that DDT was responsible for the reproduction problems of the American Bald Eagle, extreme measures were taken, and now the Bald Eagle, that was once on the endangered list, has become plentiful. People rising up can make a difference. Just sayin . . .
 
#42 ·
BigDawg, your link says: "He saw about 100 dead or dying bees below one tree [Hillsboro, Oregon], and more living bees up in the tree." No mention of honey bees. No mention of hives. Yet in your earlier post you wrote: "researchers discovered that nearby [Hillsboro, Oregon] hives were still being killed/harmed by the neonics MONTHS after they were applied." So your link does not substantiate you claim of "honeybees being killed/harmed [in [Hillsboro, Oregon] by the neonics MONTHS after they were applied". On the bee-list both Randy Oliver and Peter Borst have pointed out the nectar of some species of Linden trees is known to be toxic some years http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A2=ind1307&L=BEE-L&D=1&O=D&P=16386 So the task facing the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture is to determine whether the neonic or the possibly toxic nectar from some of the Linden trees killed some of the bumblebees in Hillsboro, Oregon.
 
#43 ·
I never said honeybees were involved, and I used "hives" instead of "colonies."

Regardless, the fact remains that the trees in Hillsboro were sprayed with neonics in March, and bee deaths are still occurring in June, months later. Sure, sometimes Linden trees can produce toxins, but, the bee kill in Wisonville happened just days after being (illegally) sprayed with neonics and are, by most sources, the largest recorded bumblebee die-off in Oregon's history. It will indeed be interesting to see the final analysis, but given the timing of the spraying and the large number of bees killed, it seems highly likely that the cause was the neonicotinoid spray used to treat aphids.
 
#47 ·
BigDawg, you misinformed in multiple ways:

YOU SAID: "Interestingly enough, some nearby trees were treated with the same neonics a few months ago"

THE FACTS: The "nearby trees" were in Hillsboro, Oregon, nearly 20 MILES northwest of Wilsonville.

YOU SAID: "Interestingly enough, some nearby trees were treated with the same neonics a few months ago" (before they were in bloom as per the directions) and yet following the bee kill in Wilsonville, researchers discovered that nearby hives were still being killed/harmed by the neonics MONTHS after they were applied."

THE FACTS: No "hives" were killed or harmed in Hillsboro, Oregon because the bees killed were bumblebees!

YOU SAID: "nearby hives were still being killed/harmed by the neonics MONTHS after they were applied."

THE FACTS: The Oregon Dept of Agriculture has not determined why there were about 100 dead bumblebees beneath this single Linden tree in Hillsboro, Oregon: https://imageshack.com/a/img195/5088/46lq.jpg (photo lifted from Google Street View, photo should say 100, not "hundreds" of bumblebees were found beneath the tree)

That tree was one of 200 sprayed in March with the Safari neonic insecticide. Hillsboro public affairs manager Patrick Preston told the Los Angeles Times: "The Oregon Department of Agriculture visited the site to take samples and test whether pesticides also played a role. The city has sprayed the trees with Safari for the past three years. This is the first time bee deaths have been reported, Preston said. If Safari is found to have been behind the bee deaths then we will not be using it anymore,” Preston said. http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/...esticides-restricted-20130626,0,3014501.story
 
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#48 ·
3. I never said that the ODA had determined the reason for the BBee deaths in Hillsboro.
BigDawg you wrote: "researchers discovered that nearby hives [in Hillsboro, Oregon] were still being killed/harmed by the neonics MONTHS after they were applied [correctly according to label directions]."

But that's not true...it's not true that "researchers discovered that nearby hives [in Hillsboro, Oregon] were still being killed/harmed by the neonics MONTHS after they were applied [correctly according to label directions]."

The truth is there is an ongoing investigation by ODA (Oregon Dept. of Ag) to try and determine the cause of the BBee deaths in Hillsboro.
 
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