The National Honey Bee Advisory Board’s position paper on pollinators and pesticides 2011

By the National Honey Bee Advisory Board

It is the strongly held opinion of the NHBAB that pollinator injury from pesticide use in the United States is a serious problem in need of much greater attention by all concerned parties. Two years worth of NHBAB meetings with environmental groups, representatives of the chemical industry, EPA and USDA have helped shed light on some specific areas of concern. We share these concerns with you in this brief paper…

The EPA responds to the National Honey Bee Advisory Board

Here is the response from the EPA. I would like those of you who have been following this saga to read it carefully and evaluate its contents. Form your own opinions based on what you have read and what you understand the issues to be.

Interview – Graham White a beekeeper, educator and environmental writer from Scotland

Listen now:

Today (Thursday 2/17) June Stoyer interviewed Graham White on the Organic View Radio Show. Graham is a beekeeper, educator and environmental writer from Scotland and he has been a leader in the effort to get neonics banned in the UK. I’m certain this will be a very thought provoking interview.

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Interview – Joel Greeno a Wisconsin dairy farmer on genetically engineered alfalfa

Listen now:

Early this morning I listened to the recent interview June did with Joel Greeno, a Wisconsin dairy farmer, on genetically engineered alfalfa. Joel makes some very incisive observations and there are some strong parallels between his comments and what we are experiencing with pesticides in the bee world.

Note: If the audio file does not automatically start right-click to download the file here.

Time Line: The Events Behind “Tom’s Corner”

Welcome to “Tom’s Corner,” a blog about bee decline by Tom Theobald, founding member of the Boulder County Beekeepers’ Association. In July 2010 Theobald wrote an article about clothianidin and bees for Bee Culture magazine that ignited a conversation about the connection between systemic pesticides and declining bee populations in the United States. Timeline here:

• 7/1/2010 “Do We Have a Pesticide Blowout?” the Bee Culture article by Tom Theobald
• 11/2/2010 The EPA memo leaked to Tom on the heels of the Bee Culture article
• 12/8/2010 The National Honey Bee Advisory Board writes a letter to the EPA
• 2/18/2011 The EPA responds to the National Honey Bee Advisory Board
• 11/1/2012 Tom critiques the EPA’s response to the National Honey Bee Advisory Board
• 3/21/2013 Beekeepers sue the EPA
• 5/8/2017 Beekeepers’ lawsuit succeeds

The story continues to unfold…

Listen to Dr. Henk A. Tennekes: the catastrophic effects of neonicotinoids on insects and birds

Listen Now:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theorganicview/2011/02/08/dr-henk-a-tennekes-the-catastrophic-effects-of-neonicotinoids-on-insects-and-birds.mp3?localembed=download

In this segment of The Organic View, host, June Stoyer speaks to esteemed toxicologist and author, Dr. Henk Tennekes, about his research and discuss this monumental devastation that will affect us on a global scale. Please check out his book, A Disaster In The Making.

Dr. Henk Tennekes has been involved with cancer research for most of his career. His work regarding bees began after reading an official report to the Dutch Minister of Agriculture on the decline of bees. He was amazed at the lack of information on insecticides as a possible factor in the bee decline. Dr. Tennekes then began to research the impact of neonicotinoid insecticides such as imidacloprid and clothianidin. He discovered that they were identical to those of genotoxic carcinogens. These chemicals are not only affecting the honeybees but other species that are not closely monitored such as butterflies and other insects. He began to study the food habits of declining bird species and discovered that they depended on invertebrates. Dr. Tennekes is convinced that there is a link between the use of neonics and the decline of insects and birds. Some countries such as Germany have already banned the use of these chemicals. However, if these applications are not banned, there will be an impending environmental catastrophe that is irreversible.

Note: If the audio file does not automatically start right-click to download the file here.

Listen to Tom Theobald: the fatal sting of clothianidin on honeybees

Listen now:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/theorganicview/2011/02/07/tom-theobald-the-fatal-sting-of-clothianidin-on-honeybees.mp3?localembed=download

In this segment of The Organic View, host, June Stoyer speaks to Tom Theobald, Master Beekeeper and founding member of the Boulder County Beekeepers’ Association about the impact of this devastating chemical.

Honeybees pollinate ¾ of all of our agricultural food as well as other important crops such as cotton that are used for textiles. Without them, life as we know it would cease to exist. Any fatal impact on the honeybee would create a monumental disaster. Clothianidin has been widely used as a seed treatment on many of the USA’s key crops (which include canola, soy, sunflowers, wheat and sugar beet crops) for eight growing seasons under a conditional registration granted while EPA waited for Bayer Crop Science, the pesticide’s maker, to conduct a field study assessing the insecticide’s threat to bee colony health. The EPA has moved from granting a conditional registration to full registration of this chemical just in time for the spring planting. Clothianidin is of the neonicotinoid family of systemic pesticides, which are taken up by a plant’s vascular system and expressed through pollen, nectar and gutation droplets from which bees then forage and drink. Scientists are concerned about the mix and cumulative effects of the multiple pesticides bees are exposed to in these ways. Neonicotinoids are of particular concern because they have cumulative, sublethal effects on insect pollinators that correspond to CCD symptoms – namely, neurobehavioral and immune system disruptions.

Note: If the audio file does not automatically start right-click to download the file here.

Tom Theobald on Coast to Coast AM

Linda Moulton Howe, reporter and editor at Earthfiles.com, interviewed Tom Theobald, owner of the Niwot Honey Farm, during her three hours of live radio news on Coast to Coast AM, January 27, 2011. Linda’s interview with Tom aired from 1 to 1:30 AM Mountain time.

Top USDA bee researcher also found Bayer pesticide harmful

Original article
By Tom Philpott

Remember the case of the leaked document showing that the EPA’s own scientists are concerned about a pesticide it approved that might harm fragile honeybee populations?

Well, it turns that the EPA isn’t the only government agency whose researchers are worried about neonicotinoid pesticides. USDA researchers also have good evidence that these nicotine-derived chemicals, marketed by German agrichemical giant Bayer, could be playing a part in Colony Collapse Disorder—the mysterious massive honeybee die-offs that United States and Europe have been experiencing in recent years. So why on earth are they still in use on million of acres of American farmland? . . .