Serpent in the Garden:
Who's Killing Our Pollinators?
by C. L. Cook
 More dire perhaps than the prospective loss of the Polar Bear, Great Whales, or Siberian Tiger, is the near eradication of North America's humble bumble bee, and other pollinator insects and birds; the erasure of the involuntary contributors to our agricultural efforts could mean extinction for US!
An ominous warning was issued to the U. S. House of Representatives' Committee on Agriculture from apiarists and entomologists, farmers and government scientists; the mysterious mass death of bees across North America is spreading, so far spelling an end to an estimated 80% of the populations studied.
Colony Collapse Disorder
In her testimony to the
Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture, Pennsylvania
State University entomology professor, Diana Cox-Foster says, honey bees
alone are an essential pollinator for over 90 varieties of fruits and
vegetables consumed worldwide. In real economic terms, the bees' value
to the economy exceeds $14.6 billion, just in the United States. And
she says, the news isn't good for either agri-business, or the wild
environment.
"In addition to agricultural crops, honey bees also
pollinate many native plants in the ecosystem. Populations of honey
bees are in jeopardy due to the 1988 introduction of varroa mites,
recognized previously as a major threat to bee colonies in the U.S.
Down from a peak of 80,000 colonies in 1982, an estimated 38,500
colonies in September 2006 are being managed in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania."
"Recently, increased deaths in bee colonies
with unique symptoms (termed Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)) seriously
threaten the ability of the bee industry to meet the diverse
pollination needs of fruit and vegetable producers within the State and
across the United States. These symptoms have now been reported in 24
states across the continental United States and in two Canadian
provinces."
After years of lethal stress due to mites and
fungal attack, the reason for the die-off occurring now in the U.S. and
western Canada is still a mystery, but Cox-Foster takes an educated
guess as to what's behind it.
"A unique aspect of CCD is that
there is a significant delay in robbing of the dead colony by bees from
other colonies or invasion by pest insects such as waxworm moths or
small hive beetles; this suggests the presence of a deterrent chemical
or toxin in the hive." Adding:
"Of particular concern are
pesticides being widely used to control insect pests in agriculture,
urban environments, and animal systems. Among these are the
neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides that have been extensively
adopted for pest management. This class of pesticides is recognized as
having extremely low toxicity in humans and other vertebrates and as
highly effective in controlling insect pests; however, these chemicals
are known to be highly toxic to honey bees and other pollinators."
Maintaining
scientific circumspection, Professor Cox-Foster doesn't finger the
chemicals sold to farmers directly, but makes her fears clear to the
legislative body, saying:
"Some research has suggested that
these systemic pesticides can translocate or move through plants to
become localized in pollen and nectar at concentrations that may affect
bees. Research is warranted to address the effects on the bees and
other pollinators of these compounds at the concentrations found in
pollen and honey made from nectar collected by the bees. It is
essential to determine whether these pesticides play a role as a causal
factor in the CCD symptoms."
According to the CCD Working Group,
a collaboration of various State Departments of Agriculture, the US
Department of Agriculture, Penn State University, and Bee Alert, Inc.
reports finding anomalies in Pennsylvania's colony collapse:
"In
the PA bees, cursory examination of the gut contents revealed many
pollen grains of unknown origin. The pollen grains seemed largely
intact and many did not appear digested (which is abnormal). All PA
samples were found to have nosema spores in their rectal contents. The
sting gland of many examined bees were obviously scarred with distinct
black “marks;†this type of pin-point melanization or darkening is
indicative of an immune response to some sort of pathogen."
Which
plants are creating these "alien" pollen grains, not digestible for bees,
remains a mystery; but worth at least a cursory look may be the
proliferating fields of genetically "modified" crops, crops whose novel
dna could be more than the insects, and perhaps birds too, can handle.
In its report to congress, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) notes:
"Of
the possible causes of CCD being examined, one that has become the
subject of debate is whether certain chemicals or combinations of
chemicals could be contributing to CCD, including some pesticides and
possibly some fungicides. One class of insecticide being studied are
neonicotinoids, which contain the active ingredient imidacloprid, and
similar other chemicals, such as clothianidin and thiamethoxam." Adding:
"Honey
bees are thought possibly to be affected by such chemicals, which are
known to work their way through the plant up into the flowers and leave
residues in the nectar and pollen. The scientists studying CCD note
that the doses taken up by bees are not lethal, but they are concerned
about possible chronic problems caused by long-term exposure. As noted
by the NRC, some studies report sublethal effects of pesticides on bee
foraging behavior that may impair the navigational and foraging
abilities of honey bees."
Like the climate change debate, CCD
hasn't yet identified a single smoking gun villain, but the effects of
it are widely recognized, universally considered troubling, and
potentially profound; the only difference being, the full effect of CCD is just a failed crop away.
The
next time you're tempted to swat an insect, or spray it dead with some
chemical poison or other, consider it is all that connects your mouth
to the food you put in it.
Chris Cook is a contributing editor to www.pacificfreepress.com and hosts Gorilla Radio.
CSR cited sources:
23 Concerns about imidacloprid, as CRS-9
24 Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, “Imidacloprid, Fact Sheet,†Journal of Pesticide Reform, Spring 2001, at [http://www.moraybeekeepers.co.uk/imiacloprid];
Apiculteurs de France, “Composite Document of Present Position Relating to Gaucho, Sunflower and Bees, at [http://www.beekeeping.com/articles/
us/gaucho/manifestation_paris_us.htm].
25 Pastis, S., “Mysterious Bee Deaths Strike Central Valley,†Valley Voice, [no date], at [http://www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/
vv/stories/beedeaths.htm].
26 For example, see EPA’s fact sheet on clothianiden, issued May 3002, at
[http://www.epa.gov/
opprd001/factsheets/clothianidin.pdf].
27 vanEngelsdorp, D. et al., “Fall Dwindle Disease: Investigations into the Causes of Sudden and Alarming Colony Losses Experienced by Beekeepers in the Fall of 2006,†Dec. 15, 2006; Interview with Jerry Hayes, Chief of the Apiary Section at Florida’s Department of Agriculture, March 2, 2007, at [http://www.loe.org].
28 Section 804 of the 1970 Agricultural Act, P.L. 91-524. The program was extended in 1973, authorizing payments to eligible beekeepers through December 31, 1977.
29 USDA, APHIS “Plant Protection and Honeybee Acts,†at [http://www.aphis.usda.gov/
plant_health/permits/organism/plant_protection_honeybee_acts.shtml].
Regulations on import permits for bees are at 7 CFR 322. The act was originally enacted Aug. 31, 1922.
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