[Cloverdale]

This is a quote from Bee Culture Catch The Buzz from a young 27 yr old, “ I’ve definitely gotten a lot of inquiries from colleges and high schools about beekeeping,” Torres said. “Millennials want to have more of a positive impact on things, and they’re also anxious about all the stuff they see in the media about bees dying, which we call colony collapse disorder.” “ Colony collapse disorder is the phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a hive abandon the queen and the immature bees. Researchers have not pinpointed exactly why this happens, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in 2016 that a widely used neonicotinoid insecticide poses risks to hives. Researchers have found that neonicotinoids short-circuit bees’ memories and navigation abilities.”

Everything I have read on this through BEE-l and other published papers says that the bees do not get a substantial enough dose to have this happen to them out in nature. I am just wondering about this, any comments? I respect Jerry Hayes and this publication.

https://www.beeculture.com/catch-the-buzz-millennials-are-buzzing-about-beekeeping/

 

[johno]

Get your bees from me as they are neonic resistant! just like all those mite resistant bees you hear about. My bees are surrounded by fields planted to corn wheat and soybeans most with neonic treated seeds but my bees still thrive so they must be neonic resistant. Or could it be the rigid mite control program I do.

 

[Cloverdale]

I did hear that the treated seeds are minimal that so whatever systemically is in the pollen won’t hurt the bees. A BEE-l discussion I think. Thanks. I can’t explain the mites though; I do have numerous new beekeepers around me, and some plain ol crappy ones that can’t be bothered treating.

 

[JWPalmer]

Or could it be the rigid mite control program I do.

Nah, Virginia bees have developed neonics resistance due to constant exposure to treated corn, soybeans and winter wheat. Also goes for glyphosate resistance. If Roundup is killing your bees, then you must have the wrong kind of bees! Crops around here are almost all Roundup Ready and get sprayed regularly. I only treat my hives once per week with OAV throughout late summer and fall, so good mite control could not possibly be the answer.

 

[Cloverdale]

removed

 

[JWPalmer]

Deb, I am sure you know that we are both making fun of the situation. A lot of talk is made about neonics and its impact on bees. Johno and I both live in areas where 50% of all cropland is in treated corn at any time during the growing season and in soybeans or wheat the rest of the time. All of us in this area that are successfully overwintering and maintaining hives year to year have something in common, we all treat religiously for mites and many, myself included, are doing it with OAV only.

 

[johno]

Yes Deb that was a tongue in cheek comment, but remember before neonics and mites there were always bee losses. If I remember correctly most keepers took their losses in the fall by combining weak hives so that only strong hives went into winter. However now that we have neonics and mites many beekeepers blame losses onto something that they can not control such as neonics and completely ignore the mite factor. Now my comment that my bees are neonic resistant cannot be true as there was an old gentleman who used to get nucs from me every spring and he could not manage to keep them alive. The last time I gave him a nuc I asked " what do you do about mites " to which he replied " I do not have problems with mites " to which I replied " if that was true you would not be getting nucs from me every year ". Now I realize it must have been the neonics all the while. This old fellow was one of the leaders of our clubs education committee and when the neonic story used to surface from all the aspiring beekeepers who lost their hives I would always comment that it must be a different brand of neonic that is used in my area.

 

[wildbranch2007]

I did hear that the treated seeds are minimal that so whatever systemically is in the pollen won’t hurt the bees. A BEE-l discussion I think.

yes I remember that bee-l discussion, I think it was RandY O. that said since they fixed the coating, and went with the different planters, the amount of neonics in nectar and pollen was extremely small. I read the stuff about neonics but don't really pay attention to it much. I have corn etc all around all my hives now, and when neonics first started being used in the usa, I was pollinating for a truck farmer. Asked him if his seeds were treated, explained the rumors, and he said he would switch back to regular seeds if I wanted, as at that time it was only registered for one pest, of course the other pests didn't know and still died. I had 20+ hives in some of the heaviest sprayed area around, but the guy doing the spraying was also the one paying for the bees, and they were really good and knew how to spray. I never had a pesticide kill form the neonics, nor the sprays, I'm sure some bees got sprayed and didn't return but not enough to affect the hives. I wish I could find my old pictures of what the old chemicals could do to bees, people wouldn't go crazy over neonics.

 

[Litsinger]

Deb:

Thank you for the thought-provoking post. It reminds me of a video I recently watched:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti5DQmTxxIw&feature=youtu.be

The presenter, Dr. Jonathan Lundgren (https://www.ecdysis.bio/team) presents quite a lot of statistics concerning both the lack of biodiversity and the prevalent use of neonicotinoids. While I cannot speak intelligently to the impact of neonic's on EHB's (or pollinators in general), some of the statistics he shares are sobering. Several that stuck out to me:

15% of the lower 48's landmass is planted in 4 species (Corn, Soybeans, Alfalfa, Wheat).

13% of the lower 48's landmass is planted with neonicotinoid-treated seed.

1 Corn seed has enough Neonic on it to kill 160K bees

1 PPB of Neonic causes serious behavioral impairment for bees.

4 PPB of Neonic is fatal to bees.

Tilled cornfields have on average 1/4 the resident insect species as compared to the prairie.

Neonics have on average a 3 year half-life, are water soluble and are rapidly taken-up by most plant species.

Ultimately his message (as I took it) is not one advocating for the ban of neonics but an appeal to balance domestic food production with biodiversity (both plant and animal).

 

[Cloverdale]

Thank you for all the reply’s; I have to admit at first I waffled between serious and not. I should have been born a blonde!

 

[wildbranch2007]

Thank you for all the reply’s; I have to admit at first I waffled between serious and not. I should have been born a blonde!

:no:

 

[Cloverdale]

Oops, shouldn’t have said that.

 

[JWPalmer]

I like silver.