Illinois illegally seizes bees resistant to Roundup; kills remaining queens

Isn't this interesting? More pandering to big business, Monsanto and it's continued ruining of our natural habitats with their geo engineered plants/crops/pesticides etc..

The Illinois Ag Dept. illegally seized privately owned bees from renowned naturalist, Terrence Ingram, without providing him with a search warrant and before the court hearing on the matter, reports Prairie Advocate News.

Behind the obvious violations of his Constitutional rights is Monsanto. Ingram was researching Roundup’s effects on bees, which he’s raised for 58 years. “They ruined 15 years of my research,” he told Prairie Advocate, by stealing most of his stock.

A certified letter from the Ag Dept.’s Apiary Inspection Supervisor, Steven D. Chard, stated:

“During a routine inspection of your honeybee colonies by … Inspectors Susan Kivikko and Eleanor Balson on October 23, 2011, the bacterial disease ‘American Foulbrood’ was detected in a number of colonies located behind your house…. Presence of the disease in some of your colonies was confirmed via test results from the USDA Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland that analyzed samples collected from your apiary….”

Source

Mind you this article is written with a bit of slant and not all the details are available, but it seems it's Illinois who refuses to provide them or answers to any questions this man has.

Thoughts ATS?

~Tenth

reply to post by tothetenthpower

A real WTF moment, and at first I thought the inspectors actions were a result of genuine concern for the bacterial disease from spreading to other colonies, but then I read what this guy was doing, testing for Round Up effects, and there is the conflict of interest I suppose.

Worse, all his queens died after Kivikko and Balson “inspected” his property, outside of his presence and without a warrant.

This only adds suspicion ,imo, and hopefully may provide liability in some way.
I was curious whetehr the disesa could be carried to other colonies and the answer is yes, so I can see some objective concern, but the way they went about it is wrong. The only justification I could see is if the inspectors thought they should prevent the spreading immediately, hence bypassing search warrant and papers. But the other factors involved leave me suspicious.

no one at the Ag Dept. seems to know where his bees are.

This reeks of conspiracy too.


Peace

Buy the research or just stop independant researchers from doing what can't be bought, just absurd the lengths these companies go to destroy all we have know as law for so long. Really wish more people would be up in arms over stuff like this. Sad, sad times we live in.

SaneThinking

Slightly more in depth info + video

www.pacc-news.com...

Sooner or later, someone is going to shoot one of these "agents". They continually break the law, manufacture "evidence", violate even the most basic rights, and slander/frame citizenry.

It's going to happen. No ATF shotgun ban is going to save them.


(edit: sorry. looks to be the same video)

If anyone wishes to contact these turds directly and have a word, here is their contact info (public domain)

www.agr.state.il.us...

Steve Chard, Supervisor
Illinois Department of Agriculture
Division of Natural Resources
P.O. Box 19281
Springfield, IL 62794-9281
217/782-6297

Eleanor Balson Inspector
Cell: 510/285-7879
[email protected]

Mike Gerard Inspector
[email protected]
815/269-2026
cell: 217/390-4399

Peter Hansen Inspector
Cell: 815/341-0248
[email protected]

Susan Kivikko Inspector
815/494-1403 or 815/393-3524
[email protected]

Rita Taylor Inspector
217/626-1319
[email protected]

Jim Wellwood Inspector
309/310-4843
[email protected]

Dan Wright Inspector
217/948-5121 (place of business)
[email protected]

The inspectors each have their own district.

Susan Kivikko's area is in northen Illinois. Including Apple River where this took place.

She was not alone when trespassing on the property though. The Director stated that Eleanor Balson was with her.
Her area is in southern Illinois.

What the hell was she doing up there and was she out of her legal jurisdiction? If so......(not that many other laws and rights weren't violated here)

Whoa. Hold on a moment. I had to research this a bit. I am also a beekeeper, so I'm readily familiar with what is going on here.

Kevin Kivikko on 22May2012 at 10:20 am Here’s another perspective from a person who knows Susan Kivikko very well. She’s my niece. I find ludicrous the notion that she’s in any way in the pocket of Monsanto or any other company. She’s as liberal and ecologically conscious as one can be. She grows and cans her own food, raises honeybees, and has fought for years for responsible and sparing use of pesticides and herbicides. She advocates crop diversity, railing against the monocultures that threaten our food sources. She’s a trained bee inspector for the state of Illinois. You seem to have taken the word of the beekeeper whose bees were destroyed. If Susan says his bees were diseased, I believe her. Would you be equally irate if you heard a farmer’s mad cow infected cattle were taken and destroyed? Diseased animals endanger all of us and especially any nearby food producers. I suggest you do a little more research into this issue. A good journalist checks every angle. I imagine a good journalist is what you strive to be.

E Balderson on 22May2012 at 6:11 pm These are the facts concerning the AFB affected hives:
1) An Illinois State Bee Inspector inspected the hives and found the presence of American Foul Brood. The inspector reported these findings to Supervisor Steve Chard, Illinois Department of Agriculture, and the initial findings were also reported to to the hives’ owner.
2) Mr. Chard sent another Bee Inspector to the apiary in question, along with original Inspector, who confirmed the presence of American Foul Brood.
3) Samples were taken from the hive and sent to the USDA Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville Maryland. They confirmed that it was indeed American Foul Brood.
4) The owner was notified that he was in violation, was sent a copy of the USDA laboratory results and was told to destroy the hives in accordance with Illinois State statutes.
5) After numerous notices from the Illinois Department of Agriculture the owner refused to destroy the infected colonies.
6) The Department abated the nuisance, as specified by the Illinois Bees and Apiaries Act.
7) A hearing was held in Springfield. where the owner was present and was allowed to rebut any and all statements, plus allowed to ask any questions of Department staff present at the hearing. The State then issued a penalty to the owner for failure to abate the nuisance.

This was all legally under the Illinois Civil Statutes! There was no wrong-doing – except perhaps for the owner to keep hives with foulbrood and refuse to comply with the laws. Illinois has a mandatory registration program and a free bee inspection program to promote the health of Illinois bees. Foulbrood is the result of what is known as a spore-forming organism – a bacterium. It is highly contagious as bees visit the same flowers as your neighbor’s and it can transfer. It encapsulates itself into a spore and can remain viable for many 10′s of years! It can come back many years later under the right circumstances. This is why it is dangerous. This beekeeper is delusional regarding his alleged “research.”

Source

Following the Illinois Bees and Apiaries Act (510 ILCS 20/1 et seq.), Ingram received an IDofA “Apiary Inspection Site Report” in November that said on Sunday, October 23, 2011; Inspector Susan Kivikko examined his apiary.

In the report, Kivikko commented that “foulbrood [was] present - Colonies weak.”

“All combs, frames, honey and bees must be destroyed by burning . . . Hive bodies, supers, bottom boards, inner and outer covers may be salvaged by sanitizing with a scorching flame, such as a propane torch.” The notice was signed by Kivikko, and said Ingram must comply with the order by November 25, 2011.

On a return trip to your apiary [Dec. 8] to verify that you had complied with the instructions specified by the disease notice, Ms. Kivikko found that the infected colonies had in fact not been destroyed.”

Two more Apiary Inspection Site Reports were produced by IDofA, stating that on Tuesday, Jan. 10 and Thursday, Jan. 19, Kivikko had revisited the apiary to check on Ingram’s compliance of previous notifications.

Source

So his hives were inspected on October 23rd, 2011, found to be infected, and Ingram did nothing about it. He not only jeopardized his own colonies, but also any surrounding ones. That's irresponsible.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture didn't just one day decide to take his bees. He had well over four months to comply.

Foulbrood is a serious disease.

He said his bees didn't have it though - so how would he defend himself against that if they took his hives before he had a chance?

The old man doesn't seem that out of whack. He might have honestly believed he did not have it.
Why do they inspect HIS property, without him?
Isn't that what happened?

You realize that the bees were infected right?

You realize that Monsanto's patent on glyphosphate expired in the US twelve years ago and that it is now being manufactured and sold by a large number of companies in the US and abroad, right?

After reading Druid42's comments I have deleted mine.

I'm not a bee keeper Druid evidently he/she is.

I still suspect anything to do with Monsanto, they are a real nasty corporation that has their tentacles into all aspects of our food now.

It does seem strange that this bee keeper's bees and hives have disappeared then the court hearing.........that's destruction of evidence isn't it????

My own opinion still stands, read my location.

Our governments (Plural because it is now world wide) are owned and operated by a elite few that own the few biggest corporations.

They make the rules the rest of us must abide by and are above the law.

As are their "contributors" ........................... Monsanto bees I bet will be the up and coming only bees allowed to survive/thrive.

Keep messing with mother nature and mother nature is going to start fighting back.

If this guy's hives and bees were infected then they should have been presented in court - were they or did they in fact disappear?????

If the hives and bees were infected then yes, they needed to be terminated.

But, I don't want genetic bees by Monsanto.

The cute, fat, little furry (yes they are furry) bees flying around by us are non aggressive, leave if you gently shoo them away and folks, we need our bees.............no bees, no food.

We just had our hives inspected a week ago, by a state certified inspector, and all six hives are healthy and normal. We have a copy of our certification, and if there was a problem the inspector would be back in a fews weeks to make sure the issue was corrected. You simply can't have a hive with Foulbrood in it.


See the dark gray cells? (As opposed to the white larvae?) Those are infected brood (baby bees). It's a highly contagious disease that spreads easily amongst hives.

It's as dangerous as sending your kid to school with say, chicken pox, or strep throat. Would you do that? The whole school of children would eventually come down with it. Same with the bees. Infected colonies eventually die, which is why the BEST solution is to burn the whole hive. My grandfather also raised bees, and in over 60 years of family beekeeping, we did have to burn two hives due to foulbrood. You can call your inspector at any time to have them do an inspection, but any responsible beekeeper will be able to spot a problem with their hives, and make adjustments accordingly.

I want to know where the "illegally" part comes in. They told him months in advance to destroy his hives, that they were inspected and had a disease, he didn't comply, so they removed the dangerous hives as they should do.

reply to post by Druid42


I am for protecting all the bees we can. So I feel they were right to kill his bees. Chasing conspiracies is a time waster. Here is a google book on Round up. Do a search for the word, "bee" to find relevent info that states that roundup is considered low risk for bees. Yes there is a small risk of health affects. But does anyone here seriously think that our government would be out to conspire to kill all our proven pollinating bees? And allow them to be replaced by engineered bees that could have serious flaws?. To allow our proven pollinators to perish would be genocide.

Ecotoxicolo gical risk assessment for Roundup® herbicide

I say we keep destroying all bees infected with this bacterium. I saw one honeybee, and tons of sweat bees and bumble bees this year. Which is more than I have seen in previous years. Gosh I hope this means they are on an upswing.

reply to post by Phage


Darn you, sneaking around with a new avatar.

Yes, my point, infected bees. Are they really going think that after multiple inspections the bee inspectors were lying for the benefit of Monsanto? Or that the state WOULDN'T step in when there was a well-defined violation of the law?

Bee inspectors are friendly and helpful. They also have cool air-conditioned suits!

reply to post by Druid42


Nice work.

Unfortunately, these sort of bs articles are becoming far too common, adults who can't take responsibility for their own failings turn to lying and finger pointing when they get caught doing the wrong thing.

It's the same as the whole raw milk saga that natural news has been carrying out the last few months.

And then we have the muppets claiming that those doing their job and doing the right thing should be shot.

No wonder the US is on a downhill spiral!

1. Roundup aka Glyphosphate kills plant matter not insects, so the bees couldnt be resistant to that chemical.

2. Chemical resistance is a BAD thing, hence the DoA coming in and destroying the specimens.

3. I realize you are a forum mod, so why do you take an article, and twist the title to a sensationalist title where 99% of people will come in with the "OMG Mosanto is EVIL they killed the poor bees" attitude.

I am not a fan of Monsanto's tactics, but i do appreciate what they do for the world of agriculture. I actually have experience in the ag field, and without many of their breakthroughs farming would be nowhere near as successful as it is today.

If everyone actually knew what kind of strict measures and testing are applied to the GMOs before they are even allowed to be grown in the open air, much less in a farmers field, they wouldnt jump the gun and write all these sensationalist articles.

But i have been around ATS long enough to realize that most people on here are just looking for someone to hate and to blame. 9 times out of 10 that figure is easily filled by Monsanto because the common person refuses to actually look past what is being said and do some research.

Ok so this guy has been a bee keeper for almost 60 YEARS , and has spent the last 15 of those researching a connection between the most popular weed killer in the world (designed by Monsanto and no I don't care who owns the patent now - that's irrelevant)... he seems to have found a connection, and some of his bees had allegedly become immune to exposure.

But..... his hives were found to have some disease so they had to "remove" them all.

yeah. riiiighhtttttttt

reply to post by Druid42

Thank you for clearing this up.

My understanding is no conspiracy, that if a hive of normal, regular bees are okay and the hive is healthy than they are left alone.

I just don't want genetically modified super bees - our plain old regular honey bees that buzz around me while I garden are a treasure. No these fat fuzzy (they have fuzzy fur) are gentle and will, if you gently shoo them away go onto the next flower.

Bees, I'm not normally into insects but we need our honey bees.

Starred for the information.

reply to post by Chadwickus


Thanks, but I am one to actually research a bit before flying off the handle with the first emotion that comes to mind.

Any state's department of agriculture is enabled to remove diseased bees. They gave him plenty of time to comply, and he's just upset because they (for once) did the right thing. They don't need a search warrant, it's not a criminal case, and they had previously documented months earlier the conditions of the hives.

I also found his "research" to be a bit non-existent. Any locally kept bees become immune to any local pesticides. People forget that bee genetics are very adaptable, and that a hive will super-cede an inferior queen bee.

Originally posted by jssaylor2007
1. Roundup aka Glyphosphate kills plant matter not insects, so the bees couldnt be resistant to that chemical.

LOL!

Ok pal, If RoundUp only kills plant matter, I have a suggestion.

Go down to your local MalWart and purchase a jug of it. Have a seat on your porch with a glass and let us all know how you feel after a few minutes!

This guy looks like he's getting ready for a tour of Fukushima.. it doesn't harm bees though!




Jeez.......