Small changes, cascading into big tragedies. Thought about using this information on a “Garden Chat” thread, but it’s too godsdamned depressing. Looks like scientists may have a pretty good idea of the problems behind Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD):
In [the March 29] issue of the journal Science, two teams of researchers published studies suggesting that low levels of a common pesticide can have significant effects on bee colonies. One experiment, conducted by French researchers, indicates that the chemicals fog honeybee brains, making it harder for them to find their way home. The other study, by scientists in Britain, suggests that they keep bumblebees from supplying their hives with enough food to produce new queens.
The authors of both studies contend that their results raise serious questions about the use of the pesticides, known as neonicotinoids…
But pesticides are only one of several likely factors that scientists have linked to declining bee populations. There are simply fewer flowers, for example, thanks to land development. Bees are increasingly succumbing to mites, viruses, fungi and other pathogens…
Yet the research is coming out at a time when opposition to neonicotinoids is gaining momentum. The insecticides, introduced in the early 1990s, have exploded in popularity; virtually all corn grown in the United States is treated with them. Neonicotinoids are taken up by plants and moved to all their tissues — including the nectar on which bees feed. The concentration of neonicotinoids in nectar is not lethal, but some scientists have wondered if it might still affect bees…
Wired looks behind the curtain to see which strings are being pulled:
… Neonicotinoids emerged in the mid-1990s as a relatively less-toxic alternative to human-damaging pesticides. They soon became wildly popular, and were the fastest-growing class of pesticides in modern history. Their effects on non-pest insects, however, were unknown….
Leaked internal reports by the Environmental Protection Agency showed that industry-run studies used to demonstrate some neonicotinoids’ environmental safety were shoddy and unreliable. Other researchers found signs that neonicotinoids, while they didn’t kill bees outright, affected their ability to learn and navigate…
Both Goulson and Mace Vaughan, pollinator program director at the Xerces Society, an invertebrate conservation group, said neonicotinoids won’t be the only cause of colony collapse disorder.
“If it was as simple as that, the answer would have been discovered a long time ago,” said Goulson. “I’m sure it’s a combination of things. I’m sure that disease is a part of it, and maybe the two interact.” He noted a study in which honeybees exposed to neonicotinoids were especially vulnerable to a common bee parasite. Another study found that neonicotinoids dramatically increase the toxicity of fungicides.
Vaughan raised the issue of industrial-scale beekeeping practices, which have also been linked to bee declines. “We’ve potentially created a situation where behavioral impacts, compounded with a lack of genetic diversity and the food they eat, results in something like colony collapse disorder,” he said.
On the New Yorker website, Elizabeth Kolbert talks about the HFCS link to “Silent Hives“:
… The Pennsylvania beekeeper Dave Hackenberg was one of the first to draw attention to the problem of Colony Collapse Disorder, or C.C.D., and, as a result, he became a celebrity, at least in apian circles. I interviewed Hackenberg in the spring of 2007, and he told me he didn’t believe that the culprit was a virus or a fungus or stress. Instead, he blamed a new class of pesticides called neonicotinoids. Now it looks like Hackenberg was onto something.
Over the last few weeks, several new studies have come out linking neonicotinoids to bee decline. As it happens, the studies are appearing just as “Silent Spring,” Rachel Carson’s seminal study of the effect of pesticides on wildlife, is about to turn fifty: the work was first published as a three-part series in The New Yorker, in June, 1962. It’s hard to avoid the sense that we have all been here before, and that lessons were incompletely learned the first time around…
In a third study, to be published soon in the Bulletin of Insectology, seemingly healthy honey colonies were fed high-fructose corn syrup that had been treated with imidacloprid. Within six months, fifteen out of the sixteen hives that had been given the treated syrup were dead. In commercial beekeeping operations, bees are routinely fed corn syrup, and corn is routinely treated with neonicotinoids.“I believe one reason that commercial beekeepers are experiencing the most severe Colony Collapse Disorder is because of the link between high-fructose corn syrup and neonicotinoids,” said the lead author of the study, Chensheng Lu, a professor at Harvard. (Bayer CropScience, one of the world’s largest producers of neonicotinoids, has disputed Lu’s paper, as well as the other two.)…
Neonicotinoids, which were introduced in the nineteen-nineties, are neurotoxins that, as the name suggests, chemically resemble nicotine. They’re what are known as systemic pesticides: seeds are treated with the chemicals, which then are taken up by the vascular systems of the growing plants. According to the Pesticide Action Network, at least a hundred and forty million acres were planted with neonicotinoid-treated seeds in 2010. This is an area larger than California and Florida combined.
Of course (h/t commentor SRV) our megacorporate masters know how to deal with unfortunate new information…
(NaturalNews) Amid all the controversy over genetically-modified (GM) crops and their pesticides and herbicides decimating bee populations all around the world, biotechnology behemoth Monsanto has decided to buy out one of the major international firms devoted to studying and protecting bees. According to a company announcement, Beeologics handed over the reins to Monsanto back on September 28, 2011, which means the gene-manipulating giant will now be able to control the flow of information and products coming from Beeologics for colony collapse disorder (CCD)…
The Dangerman
GOP: “This is good news! When the bees disappear, we’ll have job opportunities for workers to pollinate the crops and those jobs will be paid as opposed to being done by slaves.”
Someguy
@The Dangerman:
Hey, no worries. We can fix it by outlawing corn and pesticides.
SBJules
We have had bees in the garden lately. I saw our cat try to snatch one(bad kitty was not successful). I’m in Santa Barbara; I hope this means there is hope.
Interrobang
NaturalNews is the Mos Eisley of information — a wretched hive of scum and quackery, and anything from there should be treated with utmost suspicion. They’re one of the primary antivaccine sites on the intarwebs, and really deserve to be digitally shunned. Source FAIL.
frogspawn
@The Dangerman:
FTFY
Boudica
Well, as some woman at my book club said yesterday about species extinction….who cares? Species die off and new ones evolve all the time. (Ack!)
cathyx
@The Dangerman: We can have migrant children do that job instead of going to school.
rlrr
@Boudica:
If bees go extinct, humans may follow…
Boudica
@rlrr: Oh, I know. We weren’t talking about bees, just species in general. My jaw hit the ground when she said that. She was basically arguing that endangered species shouldn’t be protected.
rlrr
@Boudica:
The point being, agriculture requires bees.
rlrr
@Cato:
It may look like The Road, but humanity will survive…
Maude
@rlrr:
You’re getting technical again.
rlrr
@Maude:
Conservatives hate that…
BrYanS
The Fox News idiot at work , FreeMarket Mark, says we don’t have to worry because honey bees were brought over by the European colonists and the ecosystem didn’t collapse before then.
Anoniminous
@rlrr:
Only if you want to eat fruits, vegetables, and some spices.
Xboxershorts
GRIST published a memo back in 2010 showing that political appointees overruled agency scientists when the scientists questioned the testing procedures of Bayer and Monsanto as insufficient.
http://grist.org/politics/food-2010-12-10-leaked-documents-show-epa-allowed-bee-toxic-pesticide/
Our agencies always fuck up when we allow political appointees to do anything other than file paperwork.
inkadu
> … neonicotinoids won’t be the only cause of colony collapse disorder. “If it was as simple as that, the answer would have been discovered a long time ago,” said Goulson. “I’m sure it’s a combination of things. I’m sure that disease is a part of it, and maybe the two interact.” He noted a study in which honeybees exposed to neonicotinoids were especially vulnerable to a common bee parasite. Another study found that neonicotinoids dramatically increase the toxicity of fungicides.
Yup. And pneumonia has killed more people than AIDS ever will.
Looks like we should spend a little more time researching pneumonia and less time researching HIV.
Brachiator
One of the best summaries of this is at the skepchick site. It’s not true that Neonicotinoid pesticides were untested. Their development was in response to real problems:
One of the complicators has been the expanded use of these pesticides for home use.
A couple of clear problems:
I suppose that we could just abandon agriculture altogether and return to scavenging natual plants and fruits.
Keith
I believe the GOP line would be “CCD is a good thing, because the surviving bees will be much stronger!”
trollhattan
I can vouch from here in the nation’s ag heartland that bees, craploads of them, are required for many, many of our crops. As I see it, the only effective pushback against the agrochemical giants is from ag itself. Believe me, with nearly a million acres of almonds (to name but one California crop) there’s a lot at stake.
trollhattan
@Keith:
True Beelievers (sorry) are at Galt’s Gulch waiting out the death of the moocher bees.
sublime33
So neonicotinoids increased in use in the 90’s, often used with corn products including corn syrup. Diabetes and auto immune diseases have increased significantly over the last 20 years. Is there a connection?
Cris (without an H)
spray, baby, spray
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us? (formerly MarkJ)
I remember seeing honey bees all the time as a kid in Michigan in the summer. The clover flowers in my parent’s yard attracted them (my dad was too busy with the vegetable garden to manicure the lawn perfectly). Now, I rarely see them, though I did sight some in Georgetown a few weeks ago.
Mnemosyne
@sublime33:
I don’t really get on board with the HFCS hysteria, but it does make me a little nervous that the pro-HFCS commercials that the industry was airing were specifically saying that HFCS is perfectly safe “in moderation.”
That’s exactly the phrase they used — “in moderation.” But since HFCS seems to be in EVERY processed food on the market today, who’s getting it “in moderation” anymore? Makes me wonder what kind of studies they’re sitting on.
Mnemosyne
Also, too, we have an extra problem in Southern California because quite a few of our honeybee colonies were invaded by Africanized (aka killer) bees, so colonies that are found in residential areas are usually exterminated just to be safe. I’m guessing that doesn’t help the problem AT ALL.
srv
@Interrobang: Beeologics’ press release on Monsanto acquisition:
http://www.beeologics.com/breaking_news.asp
@Mnemosyne:
Back when the original conspiracy started, I’d never seen anyone at HS lunch drink more than one or two (original) cokes. After the switchover, kids were bringing in 2-liters and chugging 1/2 of that in the same time period. They were all chunky by graduation.
Thank FSM for mexicokes, although that is probably soon to end (south of the border consolidation, rumored to be moving to HFCS)
Frankensteinbeck
I’m sorry, but this article is ridiculous. There may be a problem with overuse of these new insecticides, but CCD ain’t it. The lengthily quoted sections here are a nonstop parade of ‘I think this must be connected’ speculation. Especially for the devious bastard that is CCD, that don’t cut it. To put it in more familiar terms, this is the environmental version of David Brooks’ grabbing a few impressive sounding facts and pretending he’s proven we just need to go to church and cut social security to fix the economy.
wenchacha
@Mnemosyne: @Mnemosyne: Damn. If somebody had the time and money to devote to it, it would be great to collect the bees for research and genetics testing.
gnomedad
Next wingnut meme: Libtards care more about bees than people!
Mnemosyne
@srv:
I would be kind of surprised if Coca-Cola did that, because they’re making tidy money by selling the Mexican stuff here without having to go to any extra expense like Pepsi did when they started selling Pepsi Throwback.
If they did switch it to HFCS, that market would dry up and they would have to go back to relying solely on domestic sales.
ETA: Pepsi seems very interested in potentially switching all of their sodas back to sucrose since they already have several that are either already sucrose (like Sierra Mist) or are offering “classic” versions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew. I have a feeling they would take the leap if they thought it was worth their while, and stealing market share from an all-HFCS Coca-Cola might push them over that edge.
opie jeanne
@Mnemosyne: We were in Minnesota last July and they were handing out samples of the Pepsi made with sucrose, Pepsi Throwback. The difference is night and day to me.
Now, I’ve had people tell me they can’t tell the difference between Coke with HFCS and Mexicoke, or that they like the HFCS product better. I also know there are people who can’t tell the difference between instant mashed potatoes and the real thing, and I’m married to one (I think he just doesn’t pay attention sometimes), but he can tell the difference between the two Cokes. I don’t see how you can’t.
And I always make mashed potatoes from potatoes. I’m not sure you can even buy potato flakes or buds these days. They were a good coating for oven-baked chicken 40 years ago, but Cod knows what they’d be made of today. Probably 40% corn products.
Mnemosyne
@opie jeanne:
I had gotten accustomed to the HFCS taste over the years, but now that I can get real sugar soda more easily, I can’t stand it anymore. It has this weird, burned aftertaste that really bugs me.
But I suspect I may be a supertaster, because all of the artificial sweeteners (yes, including stevia) have a very strong taste to me, too. I also can’t stand cruciferous vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower — they’re way too bitter for me, especially if they’re raw. Gak.
ETA: My sister-in-law made Potato Buds for Thanksgiving two years ago. This year, I insisted on at least bringing the frozen mashed potatoes so we wouldn’t be stuck eating something that vile. She didn’t see any problem with them.
Mnemosyne
There’s a way to find out scientifically if you’re a supertaster, but it involves a magnifying glass, a paper reinforcer, and blue food coloring:
http://www.chow.com/food-news/108621/are-you-a-supertaster-take-this-test/
Narcissus
God we really do live in a dystopia
The Fat Kate Middleton
Assertion the First: I haven’t taken the time to find links on the evils committed by Monsanto, thanks to dealing with a death in the family at this time, but they are truly evil bastards, stooping so low as to destroy individual farmers who tried to go up against them.
The Second: Though we are not farmers ourselves, we own farm land here in the Midwest that we rent out. Our renter – who also has numerous beehives – tells us the hives are nearly empty this year. And that yes, the neonicotinoids are used on crops planted in the thousands and even millions of acres that surround us here. He explained to us just last weekend that the problem re the bees isn’t so much the insecticide found in the soil, but the fact that as the seeds are planted, their insecticide coating is brushed off and floats into the air, and is then picked up by the bees.
keestadoll
Too many notes! Too many notes! Personally, I’ve been participating in the GMO labeling campaign in CA. We gathered enough signatures for it to be on the November ballot.YAY! Extra-personally, I’ve utilized companion planting in my garden to ATTRACT beneficial insects and DETRACT the bad ones. It may not be as easy as just slathering everything down with KILLZ-ALL, but I’m kind of partial to having a healthy family, so there ya go. And yes, Monsanto deserves some Juice scrutiny and it’s overdue IMHO. They are scumbags.
keestadoll
@Interrobang: OK, but is the news wrong about Monsanto and Beeologics?
http://www.beeologics.com/breaking_news.asp
Tim in SF
Correction: The bees are still dying HERE. They are not still dying in France and other countries where they banned systemic poisons.
The world is not going to end.
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Vanishing_of_the_Bees/70166291?trkid=2361637