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Bayer Pesticide 'Poncho' Causes Bee Deaths
in 11,500 Colonies in Germany

Thomson Financial / American Bee Journal 1aug2008

 

FRANKFURT  - Bayer AG's seed treatment Poncho has been linked to bee deaths at 11,500 bee colonies in southwestern Germany since May and 700 beekeepers have filed damage reports, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported, citing the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Poncho, containing the active ingredient clothianidine, is used on seeds to protect the growing plant against insects." In early June the European authorities issued an alert regarding allegations of adulteration of Indian honey. The contamination of Indian honey with lead parallels similar problems with Chinese honey over two decades ago when beekeepers in the country-side stored Chinese honey in steel drums that were not food lined. Europe has also found adulteration of both the Hungarian and Indian honey. Indian honey was found to be both adulterated with isoglucose and contaminated with high levels of lead that ranged from 200-600 ppb. On June 2, the European authorities issued an import alert concerning findings of adulteration in Indian honey. The lead contamination reportedly occurred in organic honey. This has spurred European demand for organic honey from Brazil; organic foods, we note, have a huge market in Europe where "green practices" have become very much part of the mass culture. The situation in Europe's honey market will become clearer in the summer.

Mass Mortality: We beekeepers are attached to our bees!

CARINA CEBULJ
Augsburger Allgemeine (Germany) 1aug2008

Mindelheim —  It is summer with an increase of bees buzzing around once again – at least that’s how it should be. However, this time beekeepers notice something different: At the Upper Rhine and also in parts of Upper Bavaria insects die in great numbers.

The cause for this is the nerve poison Clothianidin, that is used as pesticide mostly on corn seed. Experts suppose that the active ingredient does not adhere to the seed sufficiently. The active component always killed the animals, no matter how it was absorbed.

So far in the lower Allgaeu things are still looking good for the bees. There is no talk of mass mortality caused by pesticides.

Donat Waltenberger is the district chairman of approximately 500 beekeepers of the Lower Allgaeu. He produced numerous films on bees. Five world congresses awarded his films with ‘Gold’. Donat Waltenberger feels like crying, when looking at what is going on, even so this is not implicating his own beehives.

”The situation is already down right catastrophic”, said the 78-year old. “ The poisons do not only target the bees, who take care of 80 percent of the pollinating, but also numerous other useful insects.”

An expert concluded that here in this area exists no extreme situation. Waltenberger understands that all pests, also the ones affecting agriculture, become more and more resistant requiring increasingly stronger potions for pest control, however, one must keep in mind what all else is poisoned in the process.

“ That’s a vicious circle, no doubt”, says the knowledgeable bee expert, “ for that reason such strong nerve poisons have to be outlawed.”

Peter-Paul Lingenhoel, responsible for plant production in the government department of Agriculture and Forest in Mindelheim can expand on the use of Chlotianidin: “ This nerve poison is not stored anywhere, but is applied directly to the seed,” explains Lingenhoel. “ The farmer orders the seed that is delivered to the farm. As soon as possible the sowing has to take place.”

The pesticide has been used in the Lower Allgaeu but only in very small amounts.

The amounts used were not given.

Anton Schmid, beekeeper of Unterrieden, and Wilhelm Schalk, beekeeper and manager of the Raiffeisen-Ware-Unterallgaeu also have not noticed any bee mortality. “ Even when our bees are still flying, this problem should not be trivialized,” says Schalk. ”I don’t think the license for the pesticide should be revoked outright.”

Waltenberger is convinced that the poisoning and other outside factors will increase the mortality rate of the animals. This is not the beekeepers’ only worry, after all the pests like the Varroa-Mites and Nosema parasite again and again devastate the beehives.

“If one wants to fight the enemy, one has to know biology and its weak points”,

says Waltenberger, “one has to focus on the fact that bees are important animals, which are badly needed.”

For these reasons it is essential to support the local beekeepers, even when their honey costs more.

Massensterben: Wir Imker hängen an unseren Bienen!

Von Carina Cebulj
Augsburger Allgemeine 1aug2008

Mindelheim. Es ist Sommer und da schwirren auch die Bienen wieder vermehrt durch die Gegend - zumindest sollte es so sein. Derzeit machen Imker jedoch andere Beobachtungen: Am Oberrhein, aber auch in Teilen Oberbayerns sterben die Insekten in großen Massen. Die Ursache hierfür ist das Nervengift Clothianidin, das als Pestizid vor allem bei Maissaatgut verwendet wird. Experten gehen davon aus, dass der Wirkstoff nicht ausreichend an den Körnern haftete. Egal auf welche Weise aufgenommen, tödlich war der Wirkstoff für die Tiere allemal.

Im Unterallgäu schaut es für die Bienen jedoch weiterhin gut aus. Von einem Massensterben aufgrund von Pestiziden kann nicht die Rede sein. Donat Waltenberger, Kreisvorsitzender der circa 500 Imker im Unterallgäu, der darüber hinaus zahlreiche Bienenfilme gedreht hat und auf fünf Weltkongressen für seine Produktionen mit Gold ausgezeichnet wurde, betrachtet die Geschehnisse - auch wenn sie nicht die eignen Stöcke betreffen - mit einem weinenden Auge. "Die Situation ist schon sehr katastrophal", meint der 78-Jährige. "Schließlich treffen die Gifte nicht nur die Biene, die 80 Prozent der Bestäubung vollbringt, sondern auch zahlreiche andere Nutzinsekten." 

Hier in der Gegend könne man, laut Experte, jedoch von keinem Ausnahmezustand sprechen. Waltenberger verstehe zwar, dass die Schädlinge auch in der Landwirtschaft immer resistenter werden würden und man so zu stärkeren Mitteln greifen müsse, aber man solle darüber hinaus nicht vergessen, was man nebenbei noch alles vergifte. "Das ist nun mal ein Teufelskreis", meint der erfahrene Bienenfachmann. "Derart starke Nervengifte gehören deshalb auf jeden Fall verboten."

Peter-Paul Lingenhöl, Zuständiger für Pflanzenproduktion im Amt für Landwirtschaft und Forsten in Mindelheim, weiß mehr über den Einsatz von Chlotianidin zu berichten. "Dieses Nervengift wird nicht irgendwo gelagert, sondern es wird direkt auf dem Saatgut aufgebracht", erklärt Lingenhöl. "Das Saatmaterial wird dann vom Landwirt bestellt und auf den Hof gebracht. Dort muss es schnellst möglich ausgefahren werden." Im Unterallgäu sei das Pestizid zwar verwendet worden, aber zu einem gering verschwindenden Teil. Zahlen über den Verbrauch seien keine gegeben.

Auch Anton Schmid, Imker aus Unterrieden, und Wilhelm Schalk, Imker und Geschäftsführer der Raiffeisen-Ware-Unterallgäu können kein Bienensterben vermerken. "Auch wenn bei uns die Bienen weiterhin fliegen, sollte man das Problem nicht verharmlosen", meint Schalk. "Ich denke nicht, dass dem Pestizid einfach so die Zulassung entzogen worden ist."

Dass die Vergiftungen der Tiere auf lange Zeit betrachtet jedoch zunehmen würden und diese weiteren äußeren Einflüssen ausgesetzt seien, ist sich Waltenberger sicher. Und das sei nicht die einzige Sorge der Imker, schließlich würden Plagen wie die Varroa-Milbe oder der Erreger Nosema die Bienenstöcke immer wieder heimsuchen.

"Wenn man den Feind bekämpfen will, muss man die Biologie und deren Schwachstellen kennen", meint Waltenberger. "Man muss im Auge behalten, dass die Bienen wichtige Tiere sind, die auch dringend gebraucht werden." Wichtig sei deshalb, die örtlichen Imker - auch wenn deren Honig mehr koste - zu unterstützen.

Pesticides’ Bad Buzz

AL MEYERHOFF / Minneapolis Star Tribune 1aug2008

 

It's not hard to get these products to the market. Bees suffer as a result. We do, too.

It's likely that most people have never heard of Gaucho. And no, it's not a South American cowboy. I'm talking about a pesticide.

There is increasing reason to believe that Gaucho and other members of a family of highly toxic chemicals — neonicotinoids — may be responsible for the deaths of billions of honeybees worldwide. Some scientists believe that these pesticides, which are applied to seeds, travel systemically through the plant and leave residues that contaminate the pollen, resulting in bee death or paralysis. The French refer to the effect as "mad bee disease" and in 1999 were the first to ban the use of these chemicals, which are currently only marketed by Bayer (the aspirin people) under the trade names Gaucho and Poncho. Germany followed suit this year, and its agricultural research institute said it concluded that the poisoning of the bees was because of the rub-off of the pesticide clothianidin (that's Pancho) from corn seeds.

So why did the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2002 grant an "emergency" exemption allowing increased use of Gaucho — typically invoked during a major infestation — when only a few beetles were found in blueberries? Why did the agency also grant a "conditional" registration for its close relative, Pancho, allowing the chemical on the market with only partial testing? And why is the agency, hiding behind a curtain of "trade secrets," still refusing to disclose whether the additional tests required of companies in such cases were conducted and, if so, with what results?

Therein lies a tale. Most pesticides, we're told, are safe. So we add about 5 billion pounds a year of these deadly chemicals to our world, enough to encircle the planet if it were packaged in 100-pound sacks. Sure, they are regulated — but badly — under the antiquated Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. This law allows a chemical on the market unless it's proved to pose "an unreasonable risk," far too weak a standard.

Gerard Eyries, a Bayer marketing manager, said in connection with the French action that "imidacloprid [that's Gaucho] left a small residue in nectar and pollen, but there was no evidence of a link with the drop in the bee population." Bayer also blamed seedmakers and suggested that there may be "nonchemical causes" for this massive bee kill. But Bayer may not be entirely objective here. In 2006, Gaucho sales topped $746 million.

Something is killing the bees, though. Some scientists suspect a virus; others mites, even cell phones. (Bees are not known to use phones, though, having their own communications system — a dance called the "waggle.")

Here in the United States, the bee kill is a big problem. Domesticated bees were brought here on the Mayflower. Today, they contribute at least $15 billion to the nation's agricultural economy. For example, California's $2-billion-a-year almond crop is completely dependent on honeybees from about 1.5 million hives for pollination. This year, more than 2.4 million bee colonies — 36 percent of the total — were lost in the United States, according to the Apiary Inspectors of America. Some colonies collapsed in two days.

Part of the problem is how we farm. Rather than rotating crops, farmers grow the same one each year. This "monoculture" creates a breeding ground for pests. Farmers then use chemicals that kill not only the target organism but other life forms as well — like honeybees. That this approach may now be coming back to bite big-production agriculture is not without some irony. For decades the agriculture industry has been its beneficiary — with farmworkers, consumers and local communities the victims. But, actually, we're all in trouble.

No independent government testing is required before a pesticide is registered for use. Large gaps in basic scientific knowledge about pesticides remain, including their environmental "fate" (where they end up) and their toxicity to humans and to wildlife. A problem pesticide may be removed from the market only after a long process and full trial — something that should be done before. The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 improved control of residues in our food. That didn't help the bees.

Rachel Carson was vilified by an industry smear nearly 50 years ago, after the release of her book, "Silent Spring." "If we were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson," said American Cyanamid, the maker of DDT, "we would return to the Dark Ages ... insects, vermin and disease would once again inherit the Earth." But, as Carson so eloquently put it in a CBS documentary in 1964: "Man's attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we now have acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature. But man is part of nature, and his war is inevitably a war against himself."

Al Meyerhoff, an environmental attorney in Los Angeles, wrote this article for the Los Angeles Times.

source: 20aug2008

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