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March 10, 2010 - 90% Die-Off of Commercial Honey Bees

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posted on Mar, 15 2012 @ 06:35 PM
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There has been recent research that suggests that pesticides used on corn crops may be responsible for a number of bee die off.

New research has linked springtime die-offs of honeybees critical for pollinating food crops — part of the mysterious malady called colony collapse disorder — with technology for planting corn coated with insecticides. The study, published in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology, appears on the eve of spring planting seasons in some parts of Europe where farmers use the technology and widespread deaths of honeybees have occurred in the past.
Corn insecticide linked to great die-off of beneficial honeybees

One of the main pesticides that have been shown to cause deaths in bees is Clothianidin, produced by Bayer Cropscience AG. Something else that should be noted is that Monsanto have patented a method for coating seeds with Clothianidin.

A method of preventing damage to the seed and/or shoots and foliage of a plant by a pest includes treating the seed from which the plant grows with a composition that includes a combination of clothianidin and at least one pyrethrin or synthetic pyrethroid.
Patents Online: Seed treatment with combinations of pyrethrins/pyrethroids and clothianidin

During the sowing of these seeds, it was found that significant amounts of the pesticide are released.

Since our first experiments, conducted in 2009 with corn seeds coated with clothianidin, the fundamental observations of Greatti et al.(14, 20) have been fully confirmed: significant amounts of coating particles are effectively emitted by the drilling machine during corn sowing.


In conclusion, particulate matter released by the drilling machine during the sowing of corn seeds coated with neonicotinoid insecticides represents a significant mechanism of environmental diffusion of these insecticides. Bees flying over the sowing field and approaching the emission cloud of the drilling machine can efficiently intercept the suspended particles being directly contaminated with elevated dose of insecticide, significantly higher than the LD50 values estimated for contact, with the cuticle, administration (18, 22, and 30 ng/bee for imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam, respectively(39)). The consequent acute lethal effect evidenced in all the field sowing experiment can be well compared with the colony loss phenomena widely reported by beekeepers in spring and often associated to corn sowing.
Link to paper: Article Assessment of the Environmental Exposure of Honeybees to Particulate Matter Containing Neonicotinoid Insecticides Coming from Corn Coated Seeds

This is not conspiracy theory, these are actual studies published in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology. Do you think these companies were well aware of the risk before implementing these pesticides and technology? One can only speculate.

If they did, maybe my prior ideas weren't so far-fetched after all...



posted on Mar, 26 2012 @ 01:35 AM
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reply to post by ddarkangle2bad
 


I am not sure that this is "2012," or whether that year has the meaning so many spiritualists have vested in it, but it is a pretty bleepin' scary fact. The bee issue is not being discussed, either in the mainstream media or the supposed alternative media.

It is frightening beyond anything. Without bees, we are truly helpless when it comes to fruits that we need. It seems like Paris and Lindsay are more important to some people than this very important story.



posted on Mar, 26 2012 @ 03:07 PM
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Don't forget that honey bees are an introduced species in North America. There are other pollinators such as the bumble bee. Some crops rely on wind.

It's not good, but it is not a disaster.



posted on Mar, 28 2012 @ 07:55 PM
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It is a disaster. If this spreads and completely decimates the bees then we are in trouble. The USA was not agricultural before a few hundred years ago so, with respect, the lack of honey bees here has no standing on the subject.

Allow me to post a link that might be interesting to some of you. It is on the possibility that bees might actually be tuned in to the quantum world. It is not a New Age fruitcake website. It is actually from a mainstream science source.

Here goes:

discovermagazine.com...

It is one of those ideas that is difficult to test. It is acknowledged that the mathematics involved with the bee dance is similar to the mathematics of quantum physics. Correlation may not be causation, but it makes for darn interesting reading when the correlation is about bees and the quantum world.

My point is that the Universe has too many numinous and mysterious patterns for us to treat Nature as a garbage dump.



posted on Mar, 28 2012 @ 08:08 PM
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reply to post by EarthEvolves
 



It is a disaster. If this spreads and completely decimates the bees then we are in trouble.

www.ars.usda.gov...


Bumble bees, like their well-known honey bee cousins, are important pollinators of agricultural crops and native plants. But bumble bees are mainly used to pollinate greenhouse plants like peppers and tomatoes rather than field crops.



posted on Mar, 28 2012 @ 08:11 PM
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If whole crops disappear then we are in a health emergency. Vital natural sources of vitamins are gone.



posted on Mar, 28 2012 @ 08:16 PM
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reply to post by EarthEvolves
 


That might be true if there were no alternatives such as other crops or other pollinators. But as shown there are alternatives and indigenous pollinators are being researched.



posted on Mar, 28 2012 @ 08:21 PM
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reply to post by stereologist
 


Ahhh. Yes, but won't those make us dependent on corporate agriculture that much more? Won't organic agriculture suffer?



posted on Mar, 28 2012 @ 08:26 PM
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It was an interesting link. My tendency is to believe that "continued research" means a genetically modified Bombus huntii bee to replace the declining honeybees. If so (and I might be wrong) then we would owe someone for those bees and organic farmers would be in deep "di di."

But, I acknowledge that you might know more about the science here. My intuition is that tried and true honeybees are our best bet not only for crops but for independence and freedom.



posted on Mar, 28 2012 @ 08:39 PM
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reply to post by EarthEvolves
 


I had not considered the organic farmer. In general though the insects are unmodified. The goal is to farm them as other animals are farmed be it cattle or worms or bees.

The honey bee is an introduced species. It comes from Europe originally. It has died off before. It is reintroduced and it makes a come back.

I think that reliance on a single species is bad planning. Even if the bees make a quick recovery it behooves us to have a back up plan with other pollinators just in case.



posted on Mar, 29 2012 @ 11:09 AM
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reply to post by stereologist
 


I created the thread to learn and I appreciate the learning you have shared with me.



posted on Mar, 29 2012 @ 11:14 AM
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reply to post by EarthEvolves
 


I appreciate it when people make me think out of the box and you certainly did by bringing organic farming to my attention.

Last year I saw an upswing in more honey bees. Of course, that is a local event and does not tell us about other places. Many of the fruit trees I have planted rely on pollinators. Then again the fruit eating birds in my area love the fruit as well. I planted trees specifically to attract birds such as orioles and tanagers. I'm crossing my fingers that bees will pollinate the trees and help produce a crop for me and the wildlife to enjoy.



posted on Mar, 29 2012 @ 11:18 AM
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reply to post by stereologist
 


May your farm or business be successful and lot of luck.

I would like to continue this thread with scientific knowledge and studies.

I'd like to know more. I'll sign off and let others fill that gap.



posted on Mar, 29 2012 @ 11:22 PM
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reply to post by stereologist
 


Just today (3-29-12), a breaking story on bees and pesticides:
www.bbc.co.uk...



posted on Apr, 16 2012 @ 03:24 PM
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by now 2 yrs later, the commercial honey bees die off is probably nearing 100%. obviously much of the die off is from excess pesticide/herbicide use (ie, Monsanto Roundup) and engineered toxins in GMO crop pollen.

Monsanto next move looks to be to patent bees that are GMO to be pesticide/herbicide tolerant.

u will then have to buy their bees but you will not be able to breed/raise more bees to sell.

furthermore, once you buy Monsanto bees you will be locked in for life. beacise if you decide to revert to natural bee population for your farm pollination, Monsanto will sue you for any hybridizations that occur into your local beehives.

they have done this already with farmers whose crops were inadvertently hybridized with GMO crop, and gone after them for stealing Monsanto genes. they have ruined many farmers who do not submit to them as an agricultural God, that is their business.

its clear Monsanto is taking advantage of this total die-off to monopolize the commercial bee population with its proprietary GE bee. and these genetic modifications will contaminate the native bee population with devastating unnatural 'Frankenbee' consequences although Monsanto sees/purports it as 'strenghtening' the bee populations overall.







posted on Apr, 16 2012 @ 07:38 PM
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"ts clear Monsanto is taking advantage of this total die-off to monopolize the commercial bee population with its proprietary GE bee. and these genetic modifications will contaminate the native bee population with devastating unnatural 'Frankenbee' consequences although Monsanto sees/purports it as 'strenghtening' the bee populations overall."

Taking advantage? Is there some deeper reality to the Monsanto angle?



posted on Apr, 16 2012 @ 07:46 PM
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the Monsanto angle?

what's that?

Monsanto has an angle?



posted on Apr, 17 2012 @ 01:34 AM
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reply to post by BiggerPicture
 


Well...of course Monsanto has an angle.

I'm not going to spell it out. You have to intuit what I am alluding to because I am honestly terrified of their power.
Anyone who can manipulate governments can create crises. That is all I am going to say.




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