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Eye witness to colony collapse: Bee-farmer loses 2,000 hives in one month

48K views 145 replies 45 participants last post by  BayHighlandBees 
#1 ·
Please see the LINK below to an account of the devastating collapse of over 2,000 bee colonies in California.

The eye-witness account was provided to me by the bee-farmer in question, who arrived in California with 3,150 healthy hives on November 1st 2012. All of the hives were examined and 'passed' as fit for the Almond Pollination - which takes place in February (right now). The inspection is critical, since each healthy hive receives a pollination fee of up to $200 and the almond-growers will not pay for anything that is less than healthy.

The bee-farmer in question had contracted to supply 3,000 hives at a fee of up to $200 per hive, so conceivaby he stood to earn $600,000 for one month's work pollinating almonds. He has already lost 2/3rds of that planned income.

More than 2,000 of his colonies died while waiting for the almond pollination to start. They did not die as a result of pesticides they encountered in the California winter (November/ December). Rather they died because of the systemic neonicotinoid insecticides, and other pesticides they had been exposed to back in the Midwest, from May to September, among the pesticide-treated crops of soybeans, corn and other crops.

The article can be downloaded from Google Docs here:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7FCgF0BwlDGbWhUUGd4ZkQtcWs/edit?usp=sharing

Having possibly lost $400,000 worth of bees, and an additional loss of pollination income - for the same amount $400,000 - it is questionable whether his business can ever recover. There may be hundreds of other American bee-farmers suffering a similar fate this season, since, according to USDA, more than 240 million acres of American crops were treated with systemic neonicotinids in 2012. Of that - around 92 million acres of GM corn were treated with clothianidin, as well as being blasted with roundup and fungicides.

Many of the 1.5 million hives brought to California from all over America for the almond plination will have been exposed to the same hyper-toxic, bee killing pesticides. So this year may prove to be a watershed both for bee-farmers and for the almond industry - as many people have already commented.
 
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#87 ·
On youtube videos, they feed substitute pollen patty when there is no forage available. And also syrup in the cold
weather. To grow the bees even during the winter time is to FEED, FEED, AND FEED! This is what I learn from the beekeepers here. In a warm climate like Hawaii and Florida, their bees will still make broods. For example, I patty feed since Nov. into the early Spring. This is a hive that was queenless after 2 died and only one frame of worker bees left. They are brooding nicely now but still so cold outside. But I am not sure where the bee farmer is from to grow his hives. Might be from Florida I suppose.
 
#91 ·
Absolutely not. My friend is just working at his busiest time of the year - on the almond pollination - and in the middle of a financial disaster. He has a whole crew working with him, and when I last skyped him, he was not getting much sleep. We have not discussed in detail, why he wants to remain anonymous for now - but he did indicate that 'he did not want the chemical companies on his neck at the busiest time of the year'. I think that he WILL decide to go 'on the record' as soon as his workload drops off, and presumably when he has managed to carry out any invcestigations that
 
#93 ·
From what I have found development of neonicotinoids was in the 1980's by shell and in the 1990's by Bayer. The appearance of CCD as I understand it is supposed to have been in 1996. I don't know the specifics on the wide spread use of neonicotinoids but this broad time frame does not look good for the pesticide. Basically their answer to the question "where where you on the night in question" is they where in the thick of it. They make the suspect list.

Sir where you in the area when the insects was killed? Why yes I was. And what where you doing here? I was doing business with an associate of the victim. Um yes and do you have any weapons on you. Only this neurotoxin. I was delivering it to the associate of the victim. By the way what weapon was used in the killing. Well we have not determined that. no trace of any wounds. Poisoning is pretty high on the list though. So you have no idea what killed them. No none at all. Well I am certain it could not be a neurotixic insecticide, right? Oh certainly not. what sort of person would be foolish enough to think that. You have a good day sir an sorry to bother you.
 
#94 ·
From what I have found development of neonicotinoids was in the 1980's by shell and in the 1990's by Bayer. The appearance of CCD as I understand it is supposed to have been in 1996. I don't know the specifics on the wide spread use of neonicotinoids but this broad time frame does not look good for the pesticide. Basically their answer to the question "where where you on the night in question" is they where in the thick of it. They make the suspect list.
That hypothesis ignores the recorded almost identical "disappearing disease" and the Isle of Wright disease, long before the neonics were developed.
 
#95 ·
Camero, I am aware that there are other times in the past that similar events have accoured. I am also aware that most books written a century ago do not include chapters or mention of diseases in bees. One such book directly addresses the issue of diseases in bees bay basically saying they do not exist. Other writing on animal husbandry included chapters on diseases for ay diseases known if they existed. It was as common a practice as it is today. So lack of such information is evidence that there was no disease to write about. Diseases in bees historically coincide with the use of pesticides. So although the entire history of diseases among honey bees cannot possible point at one specific pesticide it does point directly at them as a whole.

This is an insecticide. bees are insects. It is doing what it was intended to do. These pesticides where developed to reduce the impact of pesticides on mammals. bees are not mammals. It is reasonable to expect a product to do what is was developed and intended to do. Any expectation otherwise is grandiose wishful thinking.

This is a product intended to harm insects. that it does so including bees is the reasonable assumption.
 
#96 ·
This is a product intended to harm insects. that it does so including bees is the reasonable assumption.
The neonics are so much safer for all of us [including bees] than the organophosphates. They are designed to kill insects that feed on the plant. Their presence in pollen and nectar is a concern. However, I have not seen the massive bee dieoffs that I saw when hives had to handle spraying. It's a compromise, do we want cheaper, abundant food or do we want a pristine environment? I want both but don't believe that is possible at this time. Hopefully the next generation of pesticides will be better for bees and humans.
 
#98 ·
I agree that has been the common thinking. and that thinking is based upon reports. As recently as January of this year those reports are being shown to be flawed. Resulting in some countries restricting the use of some of the pesticides in some countries. so reduced use, a bit of caution being shown by some as questions arise.

Okay so we have a product that was developed and believed to be a better answer. Not a perfect answer. that is well and good. The question is still in the air. Is it a better answer. or dies it have a list of it's own problems just like every other answer has had.

A world needs to be fed. that alone is a lot of pressure to fudge the opinions a bit.

It is also true that bees are never going to be free of harm. Do I think the finger being pointed at this pesticide is being done so with some stretching of the evidence. Obviously to the point of ludicrous in some cases. Bees dying in California 6 months after being exposed to pesticides in the mid west. Okay that is scraping at best. outright harassment maybe. Maybe it is someone with one more scrap of evidence in the fringe of a large pile of more incriminating evidence also. I can't say.

You seem to see this as a better answer. I am not so sure. I think it may be just another brand of poison.
 
#102 ·
>>>he best hypothesis that makes sense to me, is the global use of a family of hyper-toxic, highly persistent, highly soluble, INSECTICIDIES<<<

would of been useful to hear that in your story.
the cause of bee death in your story is YOUR HYPOTHESIS

just a question boarderbeeman, how many times have you spun that story, with a different face? Seems like a cut and paste kinda story. Did the wild life federations get the same story but with FROGS as the frount?
 
#111 ·
>>>he best hypothesis that makes sense to me, is the global use of a family of hyper-toxic, highly persistent, highly soluble, INSECTICIDIES<<<

just a question boarderbeeman, how many times have you spun that story, with a different face? Seems like a cut and paste kinda story. Did the wild life federations get the same story but with FROGS as the frount?
Actually the 47 wildlife trusts have had zero input from me or from any beekeepers as far as I know. They refused to even consider neonics as a cause of insect, bird and amphibian declines until just a few months ago. The publication of the European Environment Agency Report - compiled by an expert review panel of scientists drawn from each of 27 different European Member States - THAT convinced them that the effect of neonics was real and that it was decimating wildlife.

You can read the entire report here:

http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/late-lessons-2

The chapter relating to Bee Deaths and Neonicotinoid Pesticides is I think Chapter 16 and summarises ALL the peer-reviewed studies as far back as 1994 - there are a lot of them.


The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts published its own Policy Report based on an in-depth review of more than 15 years of scientific research. You can download and read it here:

http://smallbluemarble.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Wildlife-Trusts-Neonicotinoid-position-statement-FINAL-October-2012.pdf

THANKS by the way for reminding me about the frogs :)- I will repost the above link as a new posting because:
a. It is very, very important
b. This thread is too long and diverse
 
#113 ·
Re: Welcome to the most persistent Pesticide Advocate yet seen

Anyone can jump to conclusions and make ANY data or result say what they want. I think most of the heavy hitters in this thread are just asking for SOLID data.... that is ALL.... is that too hard for anyone to understand? EVERY commercial beek in the WORLD is worried about neonicotinoids, or ANY other product that will destroy their livelihood. But to just scream the sky is falling DISCREDITS potential REAL arguments buy the people with REAL data.
The guy in Cali lost 2000+ hives @ lets say $200/ hive value... lost revenue of lets say $150/ hive X 2000 hives.... = $700,000 in REAL MONEY. After 6 pages of discussion about all this are you telling me that some beekeeper lost almost 1 MILLION dollars and has not even had his hives examined/ wax tested/ dead bees tested for ANYTHING? He just decided that exposure to neonicotinoids 4 months ago MUST be the reason?????
I am not calling anyone names.... but if this is true... he is either a VERY bad businessman.... doesn't CARE what really happened to his bees..... or... is an idiot. If there are other possibilities.... feel free to express them. But if "I" lost $700,000 dollars... I will spend just a few more hundred or maybe a thousand to find out WHY and MAYBE assign some kind of liability to someone other than myself only.
Everyone here has asked the same question from borderbeeman.... but no answer... just the same industry is killing the world song and dance. IF it is true we DO all CARE.... but empty allegations and theoretical science is not gonna prove anything.
FWIW
 
#114 ·
Re: Welcome to the most persistent Pesticide Advocate yet seen

I'll line up with Sippy and others. Hard data is needed to prove the relationship of neonicotinoids to the stated bee deaths. What is in the article referenced is nothing but sensationalized gobbledygook. At the same time, I am convinced that neonics are a problem. Just not convinced they are THE problem in this case.

DarJones
 
#116 ·
Re: Welcome to the most persistent Pesticide Advocate yet seen

I'll line up with Sippy and others. Hard data is needed to prove the relationship of neonicotinoids to the stated bee deaths. What is in the article referenced is nothing but sensationalized gobbledygook. At the same time, I am convinced that neonics are a problem. Just not convinced they are THE problem in this case.

DarJones
Hi Dar, love your quote of JBS Haldane - a personal scientific hero of mine since I was knee high.

Here is as much 'hard evidence' as you can probably get through in a long winter: download here:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/studiesdownload.html?file=79433&languageDocument=EN

DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
REPORT: "Existing Scientific Evidence of the Effect of Neonicotinoid Pesticides on Bees"


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
KEY FINDINGS

 Although bee declines can be attributed to multifarious causes, the use of
neonicotinoids is increasingly held responsible for recent honeybee losses.

 Neonicotinoids show high acute toxicity to honeybees.

 Chronic exposure of honeybees to sub-lethal doses of neonicotinoids can also
result in serious effects, which include a wide range of behavioural disturbances in
bees, such as problems with flying and navigation, impaired memory and learning,
reduced foraging ability, as well as reduction in breeding success and disease
resistance.

 Recent scientific findings are urging us to reassess the bee safety of approved uses of
neonicotinoid insecticides at European level. A current review, carried out by the
European Food Safety Authority EFSA (on behalf of the European Commission) will
give new insights into this issue.

 As long as there are uncertainties concerning the effects of neonicotinoids on honey bees, the Precautionary Principle should be applied when using neonicotinoids in accordance with the Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 [i.e. they should be banned until proven safe]

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PE 492.465 26
Existing Scientific Evidence of the Effects of Neonicotinoid Pesticides on Bees

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#117 ·
Re: Welcome to the most persistent Pesticide Advocate yet seen

Jonathan... this thread could have been started as a general discussion about all the studies and experiences of neonicotinoids... and that would have been FINE... am sure this topic has been discussed a bit in the past.... no problem bringing it up for discussion anytime. BUT.. the OP connected neonicotinoids with the experiences of a SPECIFIC beekeeper who had a HUGE loss. THAT is what the thread started as.... but as of YET, there has been NO information that tied the loss to ANY specific cause other than just a wild guess.
In my opinion it MUST have been toxic nuclear waste from the San Onofre nuclear station... who have been secretly burying radioactive waste at the same location as the Beek had his bees. I can give you 1000's of pages of data that show radiation will kill all life. So from THIS conclusion I support that we BAN all nuclear plants and import more OIL from the middle east ... cuz I KNOW you are not gonna stop driving or disconnect your house from the grid.
HOW FAR do you think you can pull people down the rabbit's hole before they say HEY.. how did we get HERE?
Tell the beek who lost all those hives to have some tests done.... let us discuss the results here... THAT is what the OP implied from the beginning.... THEN you may have some folks who truly will share your concern.
 
#118 · (Edited)
Re: Welcome to the most persistent Pesticide Advocate yet seen

In my opinion it MUST have been toxic nuclear waste from the San Onofre nuclear station... who have been secretly burying radioactive waste at the same location as the Beek had his bees. I can give you 1000's of pages of data that show radiation will kill all life. So from THIS conclusion I support that we BAN all nuclear plants and import more OIL from the middle east ... cuz I KNOW you are not gonna stop driving or disconnect your house from the grid.
QUOTE]

you are indulging in 'argumentum ad absurdum' - i.e. - avoiding the serious discussion by reducing everything to a silly and absurd argument. Hey: 'the moon's made of green cheese, the aliens are killing all the bees with their mental waves and the only thing protecting you from the 'mind bending' is your tinfoil hat with the propellor on top."

I never asked you to show ANY concern, I just posted an interesting eye-witness account from an American bee-farmer, which I consider worth sharing. I think, like Dave Hackenberg's testimony from five years back - that this will prove to be a classic account of CCD induced by months of repeated exposure to neonicotinoid treated corn, canola and soybeans, enhanced and synergised by combination with other tank-mixes of fungicides and cyhalothrin-based pesticides.

Indulging in 'reductio-ad-absurdum' arguments does you no credit, regardless of what you think. We are talking about the greatest ecological/ bee catastrophe to affect the USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Holland, Switzerland, Argentina, Japan and Australia - since apiculture began. Many of those countries have appointed the highest level scientific commissions which they are able to convene - to consider almost 20 years of peer reviewed scientific evidence of the impact of neonicotinoids on bees and wildlife ecosystems. The result of those commissions, were Government bans on neonicotinoids in France, Germany, Italy - as long ago as 2000AD. In 2003, the American EPA's own Environmental Fates Division recommended that Clothianidin should not be given a licence in by the EPA becauseL

1.Clothianidin is extremely toxic to honeybees and other pollinating insects
2. Clothianidin has the potential to cause serious sub-lethal poisoning of honeybees at extremely low doses
3. Clothianidin is highly persistent (1155 days was mentioned) in soil
4. Clothianidin is both highly soluble and persistent in ground water - and poses an obvious threat to drinking water.

So what did the EPA do with its own science division's recommendation?
They tore it up and gave Clothianidin a rubber stamp license, without even requiring the Full Life Cycle study which the Science Division had demanded.

Do you think this could have had anything to do with the fact that Bush appointed a string of former Monsanto lawyers and executives to run the EPA throughout the 90s?
 
#123 ·
Could I ask what kind of retaliation from pesticide companies you've experienced, borderbeeman? Seems to me that you are very outspoken in your criticisms, and I would expect far more retribution against such a critic than against a beekeeper who alleged losses on the scale reported here.

I'm not aware that anyone took revenge on the beekeeper involved when a loss attributed to CCD and almost 20 times as large as this loss was widely reported a few years ago.
 
#124 ·
Personally none - apart from pointed ripostes from the company 'representatives' whose work you can see on this forum occasionally.

Dr Bonmatin in France was sued by Bayer back in 1998 (I think) because his scientific research confirmed the presence of Imidacloprid in pollen and nectar of sunflowers at a time when Bayer said this was biologically impossible. They said that his science was 'defaming their product'. The Judge found for Bonmatin and awarded costs against Bayer. Other French government scientists who confirmed that imidacloprid was killing bees at just a few ppb were suddenly taken off bee research all together, their careers were derailed, they were effectively 'blackballed' for telling the truth.

Please watch this video documentary, it has good English subtitles - and the pictures of dying bees are worth a thousand stories.

It deals with the disaster which struck the French beekeeping industry as far back as 1994 - when over 400,000 colonies a year were killed following the introduction of the systemic neurotoxin Imidacloprid/ 'Gaucho' for use on sunflowers and maize.

What the film reveals is the fact that pbeekeepers were lied to from the outset, about the effect of this pesticide for bees and other pollinators. It shows how the science was ignored, corrupted, distorted and buried for over ten years - and how any scientist who dared to stand up for the truth was threatened, intimidated, bullied, transferred . .. .careers were ruined, people's lives were seriously damaged.


This is the correct link for part one:

http://youtu.be/9boueJGtLPY

This is part Two

http://youtu.be/XM2Agj68uCk

Part three

http://youtu.be/CC9fWFE8ExM


Part Four

http://youtu.be/okA8pxkoXX4
>
 
#125 ·
Please don't view this as an attack, borderbeeman, but, first, your lack of retaliation makes your friend seem a bit paranoid, and, secondly, if I related such details to you in confidence and learned that you had posted them publicly (even if "anonymously"), I would feel that you had violated the trust of friendship.
 
#129 ·
I assure you that everything in my OP was posted with the full consent and agreement of my bee-farming friend.
he is not paranoid, in fact he is one of the most calm and well balanced people I have ever spoken with. He did not send me his original observations 'in confidence' - he sent them with the express intention of getting them out to the widest audience possible. He will be doing more in the near future - via his own public efforts.

As to 'paranoia' - I think you can see by the 'froth on the mouth' attacks of some people posting here, that other interests are determined to suppress any discussion of systemic pesticides as the cause of the greatest bee-disaster in American history. A disaster which is 'ongoing'. I see no signs - apart from the actions of the National Honey Board and a very small number of individual beekeepers, that there is ANY organised response to the current bee-disaster, on the part of the 'official' beekeeping bodies. We are no further forward in actually opposing and stopping the obvious cause of this bee-killing pandemic than we were in 2000AD. There is an obvious reason why we are no further forward; because it is not in the interests of the pesticide companies that you should be allowed to make progress. They are making $billions annually, and American beekeepers are paying the bill in dead bees.

The French however, ARE further down the road, they BANNED the use of neonics on bee-related crops in 2000AD and - though they lost 1 million hives before the ban, they have seen nothing like that since the ban. Ditto for Germany, Italy, Slovenia . . .etc.
 
#127 ·
I can support Mr. Palmer's observations. We also have alot of corn planted around our hives(to male ethanol), and see no correlation between corn and sick bees. We did loose 90 percent of our hives in 2005 and 2006, until we sterilized or replace them with new bees and new equipment.

To the OP, can you telll me if any of your friend's hives are painted silver(aluminum paint)? If so, what are they branded? In 2006 there was a batch of silver equipment sold in the Midwest that was contaminated with pathogens.

Crazy Roland
 
#130 ·
It deals with the disaster which struck the French beekeeping industry as far back as 1994 - when over 400,000 colonies a year were killed following the introduction of the systemic neurotoxin Imidacloprid/ 'Gaucho' for use on sunflowers and maize. -borderbeeman
The French however, ARE further down the road, they BANNED the use of neonics on bee-related crops in 2000AD and - though they lost 1 million hives before the ban, they have seen nothing like that since the ban. -borderbeeman
From some more recent figures, I'm not sure that losses have changed much.

http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/OPERAReport.pdf

Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing in favor of pesticides. I'm simply pointing out an inconsistency here. The report I linked does a nice job of outlining a number of stresses on managed honeybees.

I'm not sure that commercial beekeepers in Europe are migratory like most of the big operations in the U.S. are. Moving hives hundreds or even thousands of miles adds still more stress on the bees.

He did not send me his original observations 'in confidence' - he sent them with the express intention of getting them out to the widest audience possible. -borderbeeman
Then why the secrecy? Why not put your name on the article as the author and cite the source by name?
 
#132 ·
From some more recent figures, I'm not sure that losses have changed much.

http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/OPERAReport.pdf

Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing in favor of pesticides. I'm simply pointing out an inconsistency here. The report I linked does a nice job of outlining a number of stresses on managed honeybees.

I'm not sure that commercial beekeepers in Europe are migratory like most of the big operations in the U.S. are. Moving hives hundreds or even thousands of miles adds still more stress on the bees.
Then why the secrecy? Why not put your name on the article as the author and cite the source by name?
Migratory beekeeping is practised in France but within regions, rather than cross-country. Bee-farming is big business in France, unlike the UK where it is largely hobbyists. French bee-farmers organise themselves around Co-ops - with each town havig centralised honey extraction and bottling plant - and equipment and suchlike being group-purchased. Since neonics came in, they say they have to move their bees to the forests, the hills, the untreated crops - anywhere to keep them away from the pesticides. They are lucky in that France is a really big country, twice the area of the UK and still has very large stands of broadleaved forests (29% of France is forested, as opposed to 12% of the UK).

I was in the Dordogne two years ago and in the town market at Riberac I bought honey from a local producer.
She had 'specialist' - unifloral honeys including: sunflower, lavender, chestnut and lime tree, as well as 'flowers of the forest'. I have never seen such a display in the UK. She said her bees were doing really well and she had no colony losses to speak of.

As to my friend's 'anonymity' - he just has too much to deal with at present. He was waiting for the EPA team to arrive this weekend when I spoke to him, to take samples of dead hives, pollen, bees etc. I did pass on the questions about his treatment of his bees: feeding, varroa treatment etc. He said, "after thirty years as a migratory beekeepr I think I know how to feed bees, treat for varroa and carry out inspections". He said to pass on that he has been 'deeply involved' with some of the bee-research teams over the last six or seven years and his hives have been sampled for pollen residues 'numerous times'.
 
#131 ·
CCD appeared in France in the period 1994-97; over a million colonies were lost when imidacloprid was introduced as a seed treatment for sunflowers, which was the main honey-crop in most regions.
Please see this report here, it makes fascinating reading - to see this all happened so long ago in Europe - but is still happening in UK and USA.

'A history of the French Beekeeping Disaster from 1994-2003'

A documentary video was also made of the French bee-crisis - it makes even more amazing viewing.
In the opening minute you see bees actually dying on neonic treated sunflowers - in extreme close-up.

This is the link for Part One:

http://youtu.be/9boueJGtLPY

Part Two

http://youtu.be/XM2Agj68uCk

Part three

http://youtu.be/CC9fWFE8ExM

Part Four

http://youtu.be/okA8pxkoXX4
 
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