Danger to Endosulfan, danger to honey bees!

Honey bees are the most effective insect pollinators and a depletion in the number of bees means a danger to the human race.

Apparently, there has been a tremendous decrease in the count of honey bees after the replacement of endosulfan, a pollinator friendly pesticide.

We should save endosulfan inorder to control the vanishing number of honey bees.

What do you think?

 

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looks like another case of corporate greed and corrupt government.
at last a cure for obesity related disease, starvation.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1708896/...-knowingly-allowed-use-of-bee-toxic-pesticide

 

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From what I read above, I feel there is a connection between both the stories.

What do you think?

 

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Nice first post- welcome to the forum. I wish all newbies had insightful thoughts to add from the starting gate.

The US is phasing out endosulfan use, which is good news. As far as the bees go- simply put- don't fuck with the bees.

And overall, we should be using less chemical pesticides overall and more organic farming.

 

To talk of organic farming. What impact will organic farming have on food production? Can we meet increasing demand through organic farming?

 

another thread has started regarding endosulfan in the human science forum, take a look

can you provide a reference, if true than the problem with honey bees is with another pesticide, and I dont think that is a reason to keep endosulfin, it is being banned worldwide for a reason.

it is a very important issue, although the last I heard, it was still uncertain what the cause/causes of the decline were, I would be interested in any scientific research on the matter

I agree, but it is a complex issue

another interesting and complex issue but you should set up a separate thread for it imo

 

You can check www dot vanishingbees dot uk to know why endosulfan is important to save honey bees.

 

A recent Science Daily article pointed at a combination of a virus and a fungus as being the probable culprit in Colony Collapse Disorder, which is - I must assume - the actual topic here.

The virus is vectored through pollen, passed on from pollinator to pollinator, inclusive of all of the 'alternative' pollinators.

 

@ Stoniphi
Virus attack is one of the causes of the Colony Collapse Disorder. But this virus is not from the pollens but from the air. As these bees are not breded in the natural environment, their immune system is much weaker than the other honey bees making them prone to slightest of virus attacks.

However, The collony collapse disorder in USA has been due to the usage of a harmful pesticide, Clothianidin in the farms.

In this case, Endosulfan is soft on bees and also on other beneficials.

 

Sorry, but you obviously know nothing about the production of queen bees or new colonies - wild or bred by beekeepers. And your statement about virus and pollen is meaningless. A virus doesn't originate from air though it can be carried through the air and wind up on pollen or anything else.

Do you have any proof that the cause of CCD has been proven to be linked to Clothianidn? I've not seen that claim anywhere else.

 

Clothianidin harmful for bees

there has bee a lot of protest against this pesticide on a mass level.

Since I am a junior member..not able to post a link here. But just to let you know, I have referred to a number of media reports and a memo by USEPA Which summarizes the Environmental Fate and Effects Division’s (EFED) screening-level

 

I have no doubt that it's highly toxic to bees, along with many other agricultural chemicals.

But that's NOT what I asked you - I asked for proof that it's been linked specifically to Colony Collapse Disorder. So far, you've not shown that to be true.

I also not that you didn't comment of the fact that pointed out your claims of loss of immunity due the way new colonies and wild bees are established. That is pure rubbish.

And it's the same with your claim of "virus coming from the air." A virus requires a vector to move it around - it's not just freely "floating" everywhere in the air. One common example of a vector is a certain species of mosquito that carries malaria. People do NOT catch that disease simply by breathing a virus that's in the air. They have to be bitten by the vector. And the same is true of flower pollen - something, perhaps a pollination had to take the virus to the flower.

My whole point is that this is a very serious problem and you are doing no service by spreading misinformation. You appear to know terribly little about the scientific side of this issue and the true factors involved.

 

I may not be very knowledgeable about science but I do make an attempt to understand it.
As far as my knowledge goes...its not something I have created out of my imaginations...Have read the probable reasons for CCD following are a few of them:

- US Dept of Agriculture

I simply mentioned this in simple words.

Let's not get this an argumentative one. But there might be many other reasons other than the virus attack which need to be considered. And if it is a
virus attack, how can it be prevented?

 

I have no interest in being argumentative - all I'm interested is is facts and the truth. And that's what I'm trying to point out to you here - it's not about opinions and assumption without foundation. And that requires scientific data.

The thing is that you keep poking in things that are TOTALLY false, like this statement: "As these bees are not breded in the natural environment, their immune system is much weaker than the other honey bees making them prone to slightest of virus attacks." To put it bluntly, that's an outright LIE!! I've been a beekeeper since 1967 and I live in the middle of an area where a large number of new queens and colonies are bred. (That's the correct spelling, by the way, not "breded.") The process and environment is totally natural. just as are the bees that develop in the wild. I tried to give you major hint be mentioning wild bees before but you failed to pay attention.

If you rely on the mass media for information (without taking it with a grain of salt) you will find all sorts of absurd claims. Thing like cell towers being the cause. Nonsense. Research has shown that it most likely IS a virus, possibly more than one, and may be coupled with the presence of one of two (or both) mites that are common to honeybees - the Varroa mite and the tracheal mite. And these may well turn out to be the vectors I mentioned that carry the virus.

What I'm saying, in a nutshell, is be careful what you believe and above all don't post misinformation as you did with the "not natural environment" and your "virus from the air" bit. Both of those are pure nonsense.

 

Now I really want to get a hive of bees. Provided I don't have yet another financial disaster by May...decent chance I will.

Why a beehive? I'm too lazy to go out in the early morning and wank off my cuke plants. Despite there being several beekeepers in my area, my cukes ain't getting pollinated. They fall off.

That and honey's running $11 a pound, so it ranks up there with the most expensive foodstuffs I buy. Oh, and I'd like some propolis and wax, too.

So I want a small hive of the top bar variety for the backyard. I might use an igloo cooler, or make a box.

Domestic bees are a little less sturdy than wild bees...in my neck of the woods, also less Africanized...so, erm, I'd better not try to collect a wild swarm or I might end up on the news.

From what I can tell so far...the main issue with bees seems to be mites that target bees, for which I want to spend the extra 30$ and buy bees from a line that's been bred immune.

If I don't get the hive this year, I will save up and do it next. It just seems like too cool a project. I think a widespread resurgence of small-scale beekeeping would help things considerably.

The screwy thing about food production: monoculturing. We could increase yield and decrease pesticide use if we stopped using such a limited variety of foodstuffs, companion-planted, and rotated crops.
This wouldn't necessitate major changes, like going all-out for organic.

If you want to complain about something-there's a great thing to complain about.

 

European Pesticide manufacturers killing Bees

I have come across this open letter to the British bee Keepers Association which clearly states that the BBKA has been recieving funds from the European Pesticide manufacturers like Bayer, Syngenta, BASF and Belchim for endorsing several insecticides as "Bee- Friendly".

It is shameful on these manufacturers and BBKA to produce and promote such life taking pesticides. Looks like yet another strategy by the European pesticide manufacturers to promote their patented products.

 

We should use some pesticides that are soft on honey bees and kill only the pests and not the beneficials.