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Bayer Pesticide Chemicals Linked to Devastating Collapse of Honeybee Populations
David Gutierrez
Natural News
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
(NaturalNews) German government researchers have concluded that a bestselling Bayer pesticide is responsible for the recent massive die-off of honeybees across the country’s Baden-Württemberg region. In response, the government has banned an entire family of pesticides, fueling accusations that pesticides may be responsible for the current worldwide epidemic of honeybee die-offs.
Researchers found buildup of the pesticide clothianidin in the tissues of 99 percent of dead bees in Baden-Württemberg state. The German Research Center for Cultivated Plants concluded that nearly 97 percent of honeybee deaths had been caused directly by contact with the insecticide.
“It can unequivocally be concluded that a poisoning of the bees is due to the rub-off of the pesticide ingredient clothianidin from corn seeds,” said the federal agricultural research agency, the Julius Kuehn Institute.
The pesticide was applied to rapeseed and sweet corn seeds along the Rhine River Valley, which borders Baden-Württemberg to the west and south.
“Beekeepers in the region started finding piles of dead bees at the entrance of hives in early May, right around the time corn seeding takes place,” said Walter Haefeker, president of the European Professional Beekeepers Association.
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A total of two-thirds of all bees in the entire state are believed to have been killed by the chemical.
“It’s a real bee emergency,” said Manfred Hederer, president of the German Professional Beekeepers’ Association. “Fifty to 60 percent of the bees have died on average, and some beekeepers have lost all their hives.”
Clothianidin, marketed in Europe under the brand name Poncho, is a widely used insecticide in the neonicotinoid family. Like all neonicotinoids, it is a systemic pesticide that is applied to the seeds of plants and then spreads itself throughout all plant tissues. Based on nicotine, the neonicotinoids function as neurotoxins that attack the nervous systems of insects such as honeybees.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified clothianidin as “highly toxic” to honeybees. The chemical was approved for U.S. use in 2003 and German use in 2004.
Clothianidin manufacturer Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of chemical giant Bayer, blamed the honeybee deaths on incorrect application of the pesticide. Before seeds are sprayed, a fixative should be applied to keep the poison from spreading into the rest of the environment. In the current situation, Bayer says, the fixative was not applied and clothianidin spread into the air.
But beekeepers and pesticide critics rejected this explanation, calling for Germany to follow France’s footsteps in banning the chemical - and indeed, all neonicotinoids.
“We have been pointing out the risks of neonicotinoids for almost 10 years now,” said Philipp Mimkes, spokesman for the Coalition Against Bayer Dangers. “This proves without a doubt that the chemicals can come into contact with bees and kill them. These pesticides shouldn’t be on the market.”
While stopping short of a total ban, the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety acted quickly upon release of the study data, placing a provisional ban upon all seven pesticides in the neonicotinoid family. These chemicals may not be used in Germany until the manufacturers can supply enough data to convince the government that they are safe.
The seven provisionally banned pesticides are the clothianidin-based brands Poncho and Elado; the imidacloprid-based brands Antarc, Chinook and Faibell; methiocarb-based Mesurol; and thiamethoxam-based Cruiser
Six of the seven products are made by Bayer, while Mesurol is manufactured by Syngenta.
Bayer’s neonicotinoids have been blamed for killing honeybees before, most notably in France. There the company’s best-selling pesticide, imidacloprid, was banned from use on sunflower seeds in 1999 after being blamed for killing off a third of the country’s honeybees. In 2004, France extended the ban to sweet corn seeds. The government rejected Bayer’s application for clothianidin use in France only a few months ago.
In North Dakota, a group of beekeepers is suing Bayer, alleging that imidacloprid was responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in that state in 1995. One-third of North Dakota honeybees died that year after imidacloprid was applied to rapeseed there.
Imidacloprid is marketed in France under the brand name Gaucho, but is also sold as Admire, Advantage, Confidor, Hachikusan, Kohinor, Merit, Premise, Prothor, and Winner.
Around the world, honeybee stocks are in decline, which scientists have warned could have devastating impacts on global food supplies. A total of 80 percent of world food crops are primarily or exclusively pollinated by honeybees, amounting to 130 crops and $15 billion worth of food each year in the United States alone.
Yet two million honeybee colonies have been lost in the United States in recent years, with massive dieoffs also reported across Europe and in Taiwan, where 10 million bees recently disappeared over the course of only two weeks.
“If nothing is done about it, the [British] honeybee population could be wiped out in 10 years,” warned U.K. Farming Minister Lord Rooker in 2007.
While in many cases bees have actually been found dead, as in the Baden-Württemberg incident, beekeepers have been particularly alarmed by CCD, in which the bees simply vanish, leaving empty hives behind them.
Neonicotinoid pesticides have been suggested as a possible cause of CCD, with advocates of this theory noting that since the pesticide spreads through all plant tissues, bees might be exposed through the pollen of treated plants. At least one study concluded that neonicotinoids are likely to become concentrated in bee hives in high levels, transported by contaminated pollen.
A number of studies have found that in low doses, neonicotinoids produce symptoms consistent with CCD. Termites exposed to imidacloprid experienced disorientation and immune system failure, while bees exposed to low levels of the chemical experienced impaired communication, homing and foraging ability, flight activity, and olfactory discrimination and learning.
Research related articles:
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- Bayer on defensive in bee deaths
- Mystery of lost bees points to pesticide
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- Honeybee Wipeout May be Averted with Flower Recovery Zones
- Bayer Knowingly Sold HIV-Contaminated Vaccines, Say Internal Documents
- Apples and pears at risk due to dramatic decline in the honeybee, experts warn
- Orange drinks with 300 times more pesticide than tap water
- `Little Roar’ of Britain’s Bees Goes Silent as Colonies Die Off
- Pesticides Make Farmers Literally Depressed
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- Monsanto’s Dangerous Herbicide Will Generate $1.8 Billion in Profits
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17 Responses to “Bayer Pesticide Chemicals Linked to Devastating Collapse of Honeybee Populations”
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October 1st, 2008 at 11:26 am
I would also look into the chemtrails that blanket our earth now. There are MANY pages on the Internet about these terrible things and every person should read about it. The silence from the media is defening. Many diseases are being linked to these things.
Ever wonder what those strange billowy “clouds” are in the sky? No, they aren’t from normal jet exhaust.
I really think this is partially to blame for the bee situation. Bats in New York State are also dying of something called “white nose syndrome”…a strange white substance is being found on these poor hapless creatures.
Please, everyone, check out this very serious subject.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:33 am
Wifi and cell phone technology too may be playing a part.
The radiation from these go through the air - they also enter your body and can cause CANCER.
People need to rid their homes of all this technology.
If ppl DONT buy it - then they CANT sell it to us.
TIME TO FIGHT BACK -
October 1st, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I believe these chemicals are reponsible for the majority of the cancer that develops in humans.
October 1st, 2008 at 4:46 pm
They want a fascist planet with the superwealthy ruling it all
Since we’re too independent, America must be led to fall
When our credit’s been exhausted to subdue the Middle East,
They’ll install our debtor nation in the body of The Beast
Traitor…Dare call it treason
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw5dP5gy2Vs
October 1st, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I’ve eaten mostly organic (whenever possible) for over a decade. And you know what? I walk into a regular Safeway type grocery store and I see so many UGLY people it makes my eyes pop out. It’s so rare that I go to such stores that it seriously blows my mind. People have degenerated so far they cannot even see the intergenerational genetic damage being passed along (when your baby is as ugly and fat as you are, it should be a clue).
Keep eating your GMOs and pesticides and whatnot. And go to Safeway and what do you see? A rack full of tabloids with celebrities on them. And those celebrities eat organic foods and special diets free of the toxic shit they sell at Safeway. And then you pay them to entertain you. Ironic isn’t it?
October 1st, 2008 at 8:12 pm
They are right about the advertisements moving (that’s one way to mess with a persons focus, it’s not cool) and what ever happened to David Ray Griffins interview on 9/24 ????? I am a member of Prison Planet, I am an activist and I give out videos and talk to whoever will listen. I support Alex’s quest for truth, however in good conscious I cannot recommend to people to come to a website with moving billboards that mess with your mind. Sorry Alex, the adds can stay, but the movement has got to stop!!!
October 1st, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Bayer makes “Flintstones” vitamins, sold at most grocery stores. Don’t purchase Bayer “medicines”. Did you see the Scarborough clip with Kennedy regarding Bayer sending tainted medicines to other countries? This company (along with many others) is worthy of further investigation.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:52 pm
‘ALL THINGS HIDDEN SHALL COME TO THE LIGHT.”
October 1st, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Just today I saw a con trail … that just wonderful , these people are sick , keep up the fight we will win !!!
wayndee2stillsmoking van-city b.c. canada
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 am
“As an I.G. Farben subsidiary during World War II, Bayer entered the darkest period in its history. Recently publicized evidence suggests that I.G. Farben furnished experimental Bayer drugs for tests on concentration camp prisoners.”
http://pubs.acs.org/journals/p.....pany5.html
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:05 am
truth finnally comes out, and technology is the culprit !!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf6xadMwGz0
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
“They want a fascist planet with the superwealthy ruling it all
Since we’re too independent, America must be led to fall
When our credit’s been exhausted to subdue the Middle East,
They’ll install our debtor nation in the body of The Beast
Traitor…Dare call it treason”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw5dP5gy2Vs
–The Cornbread Mafia
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:31 pm
ain’t that a beeotch!
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:17 am
yeah and playing god with pesticides and chemicals cant be good either
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:53 am
“They want a fascist planet with the superwealthy ruling it all
Since we’re too independent, America must be led to fall
When our credit’s been exhausted to subdue the Middle East,
They’ll install our debtor nation in the body of The Beast
Traitor…Dare call it treason”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw5dP5gy2Vs
–The Cornbread Mafia
October 4th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Gee wiz who would,ve thunk that spaying pesticides all over the place would harm nature ..yup, golleee.
January 5th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
It must make employees “feel” really proud that they work for company’s such as Monsanto and Bayer. It must make farmers “feel” pretty stupid for buying these products. The operative word here is “feel” - these people don’t feel. Therefore they are not real people.