Remembering Graham White

Sadly, I have to be the bearer of sad news. We have all lost a great warrior in the battle against neonicotinoids and on a personal level I have lost a wonderful, inspiring friend. On Tuesday, March 3, 2020,^, Graham White of Cold Stream, Scotland lost his 2 year struggle with cancer and passed away peacefully in a Palliative Care Facility in Edinburgh.

As nearly as I can recall, Graham and I probably connected in late 2010 or early 2011 when I had my 20 minutes of fame as the Colorado beekeeper who got the infamous “Leaked Memo” on the EPA’s faulty registration of clothianidin.  We both recognized early on that we were kindred souls and the friendship grew from there.

Graham was a fierce and articulate fighter in the battle against neonicotinoids and the perversion of the EPA and the poison industry. He was an invaluable and irreplaceable resource. We fought these battles together and I gained greatly from Graham’s wisdom and counsel.

In the last few years we spoke nearly every morning by way of Skype and I never failed to come away from those morning conversations inspired and enlightened. Graham had a classical education and a rich full mind. He could speak with knowledge and authority on a wide range of subjects and in a morning I might learn about Shakespeare, rare guitars, wood stoves, opera, the ancient history of Great Britain or an endless number of other topics, along with a large dose of pesticide strategizing. I began to jokingly call Graham “Mister Encyclopedia,” and indeed he was. At this time of year Graham would have been plying the local marshes to collect frog spawn for the small pond in his yard. He had wide and eclectic interests. The frogs will have to do without him now.

Graham’s passing is a loss to all of us. For me it leaves a huge hole in my life. My mornings will never be the same and I will remember on every awakening how my days once began.

Rest in peace, my friend. It was my honor to have known you and be counted as a friend.

Graham’s legacy can, indeed must, transcend his passing. If even a few will take the time to do the homework, understand what Graham was attempting to teach the world and take up the torch to carry those ideals forward, Graham’s work lives on. Click the image of Graham above to read the Acres U.S.A. interview he did. It was one of his longest and it covers much of his life history and nearly all of the elements of the pesticide wars.

Pollinators and Power: Tom Theobald interviewed by Terry Oxford

I did these two interviews recently with Terry Oxford on her podcast, Pollinators and Power. Some minor corrections on Interview #1: the Colorado County Bee Inspector position was created in 1891, not 1861, and I have been a beekeeper for 44 years, not 35. On Interview #2, a little more serious error. I refer to the toxic equivalent of neonicotinoids to DDT in millions of pounds, it should be billions.

Pulling Honey

Many of you will be taking your honey off soon. I stumbled across this video this afternoon and thought some of you would find it interesting and informative. We did several of these videos for the Maria Rogers Oral History Program about 15 or 20 years ago. This is typical of what pulling honey would be for  medium size beekeeping operation. Before the high colony losses put me out of business a typical harvest would have been several tons of premium table honey.

For any of you who have a sideline operation, a pickup truck and are tiring of lifting all of your supers, Boom Boom the Iron Man (the lift at the end of the video) is for sale since I no longer have  a use for it.

These videos should all be on the internet, go to the Boulder Public Library’s YouTube channel and search for Tom Theobald.  The MROHP interviews are currently located within the Oral History Interviews Playlist.  There are 5 covering all aspects of a year of beekeeping, 

This video is particularly poignant for me because Barbara is in it, before ovarian cancer took her away and left a huge hole in my life and my heart.

New AITL study (acute insecticide toxicity loading)

Check out this new study published by PLOS ONE  on August 6th, An assessment of acute insecticide toxicity loading (AITL) of chemical pesticides used on agricultural land in the United States.

Neonicotinoids are 5,000 to 10,000 times more toxic to honey bees than DDT and are now the most widely used pesticides in the United States and worldwide. They can last for years and minute doses over time will lead to death as surely as larger acute doses. Because of this long term effect they are probably even more toxic than what the AITL study  found, that the toxicity of U.S. agriculture to insects is 48 times what it was 25 years ago when neonicotinoids were first introduced. 92 percent of  this increase is attributed to the neonicotinoids.

The environmental consequence has been a worldwide collapse of insect populations and movement up the food chain to species such as insectivorous birds. More concerning is the emerging medical evidence connecting neonicotinoids with neurological and behavioral disorders, particularly in young children.

Many European countries have banned the use of neonicotinoids, but in the U.S. the EPA has ignored the evidence and has turned a blind eye to the science. As a result the environmental damages in the United States continue to grow each year.

Read more in this article published by The Guardian, Pesticide widely used in US particularly harmful to bees, study finds.

New podcast series: Pollinators and Power by Terry Oxford

This is the link to Urban Bee’s main site, however there is currently a certificate mismatch issue: https://urbanbeesf.com/podcast

Perhaps best known as the San Francisco rooftop beekeeper, Terry Oxford has also been a tireless campaigner for neonicotinoid-free trees for the major tree plantings planned for San Francisco. Her interests have expanded to the propagation of native bees, mason bees and leafcutter bees. As an advocate for the health of bees and the environment, Terry has recently begun a series of podcasts. The first two are linked below and I will be posting subsequent podcasts as they are completed.

The first is an interview with Dave Goulson, a leading voice on the worldwide environmental damages being wrought by the neonicotinoids.

The second is an interview with Stacy Malkan of  U.S. Right To Know. Stacy is an informed and articulate voice on the corporate manipulation of science and  the media, and what she has to say bears directly on the capture of the beekeeper seat on the Colorado Department of Agriculture Pesticide Advisory Committee and the creation of the Colorado Professional Beekeepers Association, both engineered by Bayer CropLife to divide and confuse beekeepers and divert attention away from the devastation of neonics. I encourage you to take  the time  to listen to both of  these excellent interviews.

Seeds That Poison

This video, Seeds That Poison, by Beyond Pesticides is only five minutes long and hits almost every aspect of the neonicotinoid controversy. It should be shared widely with others.

USDA whistleblower Dr. Jonathan Lundgren interviewed on Beekeeping Today

Here is Dr. Jonathan Lundgren interviewed by Jeff Ott and Kim Flottum on the Beekeeping Today Podcast about Regenerative Agriculture and Honey Bee Health.

Dr. Lundgren left the USDA because his research on neonicotinoids and modern agriculture was being stifled. He founded the Ecdysis Foundation and Blue Dasher Farms. This 40 minute interview is filled with facts and observations critical to the challenges we face. Long, but worth the time for those of you seeking a deeper understanding of the issues before us.  Dr. Lundgren will be the featured speaker at the Summer meeting of the Colorado State Beekeepers Association in Silt, CO, June 7 – 9, 2019.

A Bug’s Death

On a cold winter day this past week I was in my Honey House doing a run of hand dipped beeswax candles. In the background I could hear the radio, tuned to the Public Radio station. Because I was an inside captive I had the good fortune to catch the following program, A Bug’s Death. It is 47 minutes long and full of important information for those of you who want to better understand the environmental crisis we are facing. I was astounded by the report by Emma Pelton of the Xerces Society that they are documenting a 99.5% decline in West Coast Monarch population. When you have a little time, settle in and listen closely to what this program has to say.