From: Sun
HANK DANISZEWSKI | QMI AGENCY
LONDON, Ont. — There wasn’t much buzz at a public meeting organized by the Ontario government about the crackdown on a pesticide blamed for the mass die-off of bees.
The Grain Farmers of Ontario, a key player in the issue, is boycotting the meetings, saying a public forum does not provide an opportunity “for professional and reasonable discussion on this complex issue.”
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“This (crackdown on neonicotinoids) will cost Ontario farmers $630 million a year … the research at this point is inconclusive,” said Barrett, the Tory agriculture critic and MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk.
December 10, 2014
Editor’s Note: For an early discussion of this issue from a Bee Health Decline reader, please see here.
From: Forbes
A leaked memo has sparked a tense debate about the impartiality of the science behind European restrictions on neonicotinoid pesticides, widely blamed for killing honeybees. www.tinyurl.com/prroxt8
The June 2010 document was first revealed by a blogger on Tuesday then reported in yesterday’s Times under the headline: “Scientists accused of plotting to get pesticides banned”.
It appears to suggest that the researchers had already made up their minds before seeking evidence to support their opinions, and wanted to publish papers in respected journals in order to pressure governments to act.
December 8, 2014
Editor’s Note: The following article was highlighted by a perspicacious reader.
From: The Times (London) via The Australian
Ben Webster | The Times
RESEARCH blaming pesticides for the decline in honeybees has been called into question by a leaked note suggesting scientists had decided in advance to seek evidence supporting a ban on the chemicals.
The private note records a discussion in 2010 between four scientists about how to persuade regulators to ban neonicotinoid pesticides.
The EU imposed a temporary ban last year after the European Food Safety Authority identified risks to bees.
December 4, 2014
From: Roll Call Commentary
By John R. Block
For years now, farmers have been trying to fend off an EPA rule that would treat everything from run-off ditches to farm sloughs as “waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act, hog-tying farmers in miles of red tape and allowing the agency to micromanage almost every action we take on the farm.
Now the EPA is preparing another startling regulatory overreach that could be just as damaging. While they haven’t announced it yet, every indication suggests the agency will soon impose new rules that ban certain uses of some of the most important crop protection products we rely on.
December 3, 2014
Editor’s Note: In its “Update on Neonicotinoid Pesticides and Bee Health” attached here, the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency states that it is including data from growers and registrants as well as other stakeholders in its own economic assessment of the economic value of neonicotinoid-treated seeds for corn and soybeans. See below. The PMRA Update discussed the strong link between varroa and bee health decline, stated that “no conclusions” can be drawn at this time regarding any long term bee health effects from treated seed and explained the importance of additional research.
From: Health Canada/Pest Management Regulatory Agency
December 1, 2014
From: Bloomberg/BNA
By David Schultz
As federal agencies develop a nationwide strategy to reverse a dramatic decline in the number of pollinator insects, a pair of recent public forums revealed deep disagreements among the issue’s stakeholders: beekeepers, farmers, environmental activists and chemical companies.
The forums were held in the Washington area by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture.
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They cite competing evidence that indicates the biggest problem for the health of American pollinators is not the use of neonicotinoids but rather the infestation of the disease-carrying Varroa mite.
November 28, 2014
From: Science 2.0
By Jon Entine
Last week, in Part I of this two part series, “Bee Deaths Mystery Solved? Neonicotinoids (Neonics) May Actually Help Bee Health”, we explored the claims by Harvard School of Public Health researcher Chensheng Lu, heralded by anti-pesticide and anti-GMO advocacy groups, for his research that purportedly proves that the class of chemicals known as neonicotinoids are killing bees and endangering humans. And we saw how many journalists, our of ignorance or for ideological reason,s promote dicey science.
November 26, 2014
Editor’s Note: CSIRO’s website explains that “the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, is Australia’s national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world.”
From: The Age
Bridie Smith
Australia’s biosecurity is at risk from what the CSIRO has called “the efficiency era”, which could hit the country’s ability to protect itself from external threats such as highly contagious human diseases and agricultural pests.
In a comprehensive report released on Tuesday, “the efficiency era” is one of five “biosecurity megatrends” identified as having the potential to compromise the country’s economy, health and environment in coming decades.
November 24, 2014
From: Science 2.0
By Jon Entine
Reports that honey bees are dying in unusually high numbers has concerned many scientists, farmers and beekeepers, and gripped the public. There have been thousands of stories ricocheting across the web, citing one study or another as the definitive explanation for a mystery that most mainstream experts say is complex and not easily reducible to the kind of simplistic narrative that appeals to advocacy groups.
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This series—Bee Deaths Mystery Solved!—specifically examines two controversial studies, both authored by the same researcher, that have became the linchpin for those who argue that bees and potentially the planet are facing a Beemageddon. It addresses:
November 21, 2014
Editor’s Note: The complete study is available here.
From: PeerJ
Cutler GC1, Scott-Dupree CD2, Sultan M2, McFarlane AD2, Brewer L3.
November 18, 2014
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