Why Honeybees Are Dying Off

by Jessie Cacciola, Posted Dec 14th 2010 @ 5:00PM

Photo: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

It seems that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is supposed to, you know, protect our environment, is about as effective as a teacher letting kids slack on their homework. Documents have recently leaked -- thanks to a Colorado beekeeper -- that show that the EPA approved of the pesticide clothianidin in 2003, which is knowingly toxic to bees and is already banned in Germany, France, Italy and Slovenia, reports Grist.

Not only do bees ensure the life cycle of plants (so to kill them in order to grow more plants seems painfully counterproductive), they also create honey, which is as diverse in flavor as the fields of flowers around a hive, and in its raw form is even believed to counteract allergies. (Honey from your area contains a small dose of your area's pollen, much like a vaccine.) But frankly, that's all shot to dust if this pesticide stays on the market.

Introduced in spring 2003 by German agrichemical manufacturer Bayer, despite warnings and the need for proper tests on how it would affect bees, clothianidin was used in billions of plants along the corn belt. And in 2009, Bayer made about $262 million in sales, reports Grist.

Not so coincidentally, bees have been dying off steadily ever since, from what researchers call colony-collapse disorder. Like other pesticides, clothianidin is "taken up by a plant's vascular system and expressed through pollen and nectar," Grist cites from the Pesticide Action Network of North America (PANNA), which leaked the EPA documents with the organization Beyond Pesticides.

The EPA went so far as to grant Bayer an extension on a study, well after clothianidin was approved for use. This isn't like turning a paper in late; this is like putting off research that would let us know if a drug (already on the market) is deadly. Plus, the EPA even let Bayer do the testing on canola in Canada, not on mass-produced corn in the U.S., which is sort of the whole point.

A year later, Bayer finally handed in their test, and though it proved nothing, the EPA declared it "scientifically sound" and allowed the toxicity to continue to breed. The test had set up two tiny fields (one clothianidin-treated, one not) and let a hive of bees roam freely between the two and beyond. So, no controlled variable there. The EPA's own scientists declared it invalid, but no matter.

Along with corn and canola, soy, sugar beets, sunflowers and wheat are also grown with clothianidin, and according to Grist, "Bayer is now petitioning the EPA to register it for use with cotton and mustard seed." On Thursday, an EPA press spokesperson told Grist reporter Tom Philpott in an email that "clothianidin would retain its registration."

Filed Under: Food Politics
Tags: epa, honeybees, pesticides

Chew on This

Royal Wedding Cake Details Revealed! - YumSugar

Make Your Own Pop Tarts - CHOW
Denny's Introduces a Maple Bacon Sundae - Eater
Whole Foods Opening Bars in Stores - USA Today
Rules Of Bar Etiquette -- For The Bartender - HuffPost Food

Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-14-2010 @9:39PM sheila said... What do you suggest as some actions we can take to put pressure on the EPA to ban this?
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

12-14-2010 @10:48PM vintagebrain said... You can go to Change.org where there is a petition set up. For the time being spread the word about this issue.

Vote upVote downReport

12-15-2010 @12:38AM zaudicus Smith said... What are you trying to say about honey. I appreciate your suggestion but i think, honey production is not running .
http://naturacleansesite.com/
Reply