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Neonicotinoid pesticides tied to crashing bee populations,


humgarden

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http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/29/10921493-neonicotinoid-pesticides-tied-to-crashing-bee-populations-2-studies-find

Article states that the EPA has a 'review that's currently under way.'. pretty sure this is the same class of insecticide that is used to inject the Wiliwili trees in Hawaii to combat erythrina gall wasp, also used here to inject cambium (?) layer of other Erythrina species to fight tip borer. I have never talked to anyone who is 'in-the-know' who can tell me if injecting an erythrina (coral tree)helps against tip borer. I know first hand that 'systemic drench' (soaking the roots) doesn't do squat.

The French study referred to has been out a number of years, The British study is newer. I had never seen the much more convincing Bumble bee data.

I started talking about the decline in honey bees on my property years ago when most people were saying there was no problem. Now I can go out in a large field covered with paintbrush,buttercup,etc., and see practically no honey bees. I don't see any bumble bees at all now. I see carpenter bees. Next time I get a chance to shake a swarm into a box , I think I'll try it. There used to always be a hive of bees in a log or barrel around here, but the last 2 nests didn't survive more than a year .

Z9a Tx.

Z9a Tx.

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Thanks for the info.

I wish I knew more about this malady to add anything to the discussion. I truly hope the experts are getting this understood and solved for all our sake.

SoCal and SoFla; zone varies by location.

'Home is where the heart suitcase is'...

_____

"If, as they say, there truly is no rest for the wicked, how can the Devil's workshop be filled with idle hands?"

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We had a speaker at the last nativeplant society meeting who talked about colony collapse. This class of insecticide was mentioned. I don't use it.

Another thing he talked about was the stress of transporting the bees all over to pollinate groves of fruit trees and fields of vegetables. The problem is that there are so many more groves and fields that there are not enough bees to pollinate them. Then you have the farmers who don't want to manage their own hives. He spoke about the almod farmers in California. There are a lot more almod groves than there used to be and the owners find it cheaper to lease bees than keep their won. So the bees are transported from all over the country and are stressed out. So they flee the hives and go wild. They are transported from as far away as Maine for this purpose. Can't be good for them.

Also a hive can only support so many bees and use so much pollen.

So between the stress and the confusion caused by the nicitinoids and other pesticides/herbicides no wonder the bees are in decline.

Palmmermaid

Kitty Philips

West Palm Beach, FL

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