The Plight of the Bee
I became aware of the plight of the bee 27 years ago. I avidly read all kinds of environmental, gardening, and wildlife articles and books, and it makes me sad that it’s only now becoming a widely recognized issue. The large bumblebees were becoming extinct over 28 years ago, because the genetically engineered plants apparently had flowers that didn’t have any nectar. I read that the bees were literally starving to death. Over time, I noticed that more and more flowers in the florist shops and in gardens didn’t have a fragrance. No fragrance, no nectar. What a shame. I love the fragrance, and I love the bees. The intricate web of our lives depends on every little aspect of life, and when one is taken out, it can start a downward spiral effect. I find this situation alarming. Bees are natural to our earthly environment, and our very lives depend on them. The world’s production of food is dependent on the pollination provided by honey bees. Some estimates range from 50-80% of the world’s food supply being directly or indirectly affected by honey bee pollination. Honey bees have been managed and have sustained farming practices as far back as 4500 years. Without the honey bee, food prices would be astronomical, with the little food that would be available. I also recently became aware that the bee colonies have become threatened by the widespread use of a pesticide-coated seed, used for many of the corn and soy crops. It is a seed that has been coated with an neonicotinoid insecticide. Studies are showing that the bees are actually drawn to the nectar of this plant, and that colonies are in volatile situations because of this toxin. Seed producing companies are allowed to make and sell seeds that are coated with this pesticide, which has been shown in numerous research studies to contribute to bee and bee colony deaths, even though the Environmental Protection Agency says the product doesn’t increase yields. How much evidence will it take before the EPA, or other companies involved, stop the use, and protect our fragile web of life? Do we really need a more catastrophic sign than 37 million bees being found dead, after the planting of a corn crop in which they used this type of toxic seed? Isn’t it a moral obligation of industry to stop making things they know are harmful to the environment and therefore to humanity? Isn’t it the job of the EPA to protect us from companies that don’t voluntarily stop doing things that are harmful to the environment and/or humanity? In addition to the pesticides, an article in Forbes magazine in 2012, stated that it’s not surprising bees are dying off in huge numbers, because of the increase in genetically modified foods. “As of 2012, it is estimated that over 70 percent of the food on the U.S. market contains genetically modified organisms, which are ingredients that have been scientifically engineered in laboratories.” (1) I also understand that genetically engineered plants are escaping into the wild, and interbreeding with our wild plants. The repercussions of this alarm me too. The future of our earth, and the future of food for our children and grandchildren is at stake. Why are GMO foods harmful? Tests using three types of GMO corn that was fed to rats, showed these results: “Effects were mostly associated with the kidney and liver, which are the dietary detoxifying organs, although results were different between the 3 GMOs. Other effects were also noticed in the heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system. (The haematopoietic system is the bodily system of organs and tissues, primarily the bone marrow, spleen, tonsils, and lymph nodes, involved in the production of blood). We conclude that these data highlight signs of hepatorenal toxicity, (or kidney failure), possibly due to the new pesticides, which are specific to each GM corn.” (2) During the tests, the rats also developed large tumors. Taking Action The combination of GMO plants, the decline of the bee, and the resulting health risks alarmed me so much, I raised money for an organic hummingbird and butterfly garden at my son’s elementary school (this was 15 years ago!). I wanted to help educate the community about the importance of our pollinators. Today, the Science, Art, and English departments are still using that garden. In fact, they have recently added an organic food garden—all organic and free of GMOs (genetically modified organisms)—and they are teaching the children to be “master gardeners.” Chip Clint (the organic gardening expert who designed the hummingbird and butterfly garden for me at the elementary school), and I have continued to be consulted concerning the garden. I am blessed to have been instrumental in this school program that is now in place. I understand that elementary schools that have a garden in which children can work, report that students have much higher math and science scores than schools without gardens. It makes the children happy to have an outdoor hands-on type of learning experience. Petition Bees and the future of our environment are in need of protection from these toxic and harmful poisons. Given the enormous number of bee deaths already, the enormous amounts of neonicotinoid insecticide-coated seeds that are already being planted, the fragile state of the bee colonies, and the mounting evidence that shows this neonicotinoid insecticide-coated seed is a danger to the bee colonies, don’t you agree that the EPA should stop the manufacturing and planting of this toxic seed? What can we do? Please join me in calling for an end to the manufacturing, selling and planting of this neonicotinoid insecticide-coated seed. Please boycott the purchase, use and selling of this seed. Please sign my petition to the EPA, calling for action to stop the manufacturing, selling and use of the neonicotinoid insecticide-coated seed, or any other type of toxin that can cause death to pollinators in our environment. The next life you save may be your own.Click Here to sign the petition!Please leave a comment and also sign the petition! Watch this talk on TED talks by Maria Spivak. Click here.
Nancy Addison talks with Richard Kemp on the Farm & Ranch USA ReportKLGD 106.9fm, The Country Giant about the bees – Click Here to listen to the Radio Show Segment on the Bees.Sited sources: (1) Rachel Hennessey. “GMO Food Debate In The National Spotlight.” Forbes 11/03/2014. http://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelhennessey/2012/11/03/gmo-food-debate-in-the-national-spotlight/2/ (2) Joël Spiroux de Vendômois et al. “A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health.” Research paper. Int J Biol Sci 2009; 5(7):706-726. doi:10.7150/ijbs.5.706. University studies: Purdue (http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2012/120111KrupkeBees.html), Harvard (http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/04/pesticide-tied-to-bee-colony-collapse/) , and Oxford ( http://marketbusinessnews.com/bees-crave-neonicotinoid-pesticides-like-humans-with-nicotine/58089)
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Bees and other pollinating insects play an essential role in ecosystems. A third of all our food depends on their pollination. A world without pollinators would be devastating for food production. Researchers call the mass disappearance Colony Collapse Disorder, and they estimate that nearly one-third of all honey bee colonies in the country have vanished. Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture has allotted $20 million over the next five years for research, that amount pales in comparison with the potential loss of $15 billion worth of crops that bees pollinate every year. If we don’t act now to save the honey bee, it might be too late…We believe it’s our duty to make a difference in this world. We think it should be one of our first thoughts: one that guides us throughout our lives…rk2
Don’t use communication devices near big bee populations … they are hyper sensitive to extremely low electromagnetic frequencies
Thank you so much for that information Weslie.
My Pleasure Nancy keep posting some interesting blogs this can be help to boost knowledge of us. have a good day.
no problem Nancy i just want to share some information about what i know.. and also this blog can also help me with my farm of honeybees . thank you nancy for this blog.
i love bees even honeybees .. <3 so nutritious .
wow gute Informationen danke Nancy Addison kann mir für meine Farm und meine Cousine helfen. god bless you
ວຽກ ທີ່ດີ ຂໍຂອບໃຈ ທ່ານສໍາລັບການ ຊ່ວຍເຫຼືອຂອງທ່ານ blogs ຕ່າງໆ ຫຼາຍທີ່ຈະມາ.
Look what is happening around the world! It’s so exciting. A movement toward protecting the environment and stopping the use of toxic pesticides! Bermuda- just banned round-up! http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20150511/NEWS/150519966
I received this response today:
Nancy,
We are a family of beekeepers and we too are very concerned for our bees. I have signed numerous petitions asking the EPA to ban all neonics. I have also signed petitions asking Home Depot, Lowes and ACE Hardware to quit selling products that contain neonics. Big AG would have us believe mites are responsible for CCD. We believe neonics, glyphosates, GMO’s are directly responsible for CCD. We think all these things should be banned or the pollinators will disappear from the face of the earth.
We have had hives die from what we believe was pesticide poisoning. Thousands of dead bees laying dead in front of the hive.
Just to let you know. In cases of CCD, you will not find dead bees around the hive. You won’t find any bees. They just leave and never come back. We believe the neonics/glyphosates/GMO’s are disrupting the bees internal GPS and they become disoriented and never make it back to the hive.
We need everyone in the world to understand the plight of this very important pollinator and the probable causes of CCD.
Jeff Fetchenhier
I just received this response from Gloria Richmond · Northern Arizona University –
“Bees pollinate all of our fields of fruits and vegetables. Without bees where will our produce come from? Stop the production of these toxins. Imagine empty fields where crops used to grow; markets without a produce section, your table and refrigerator without food. Sound extreme? NO BEES = NO FOOD. (Cattle, sheep, chickens, and other meat sources also eat food supported by the bees responsible for pollinating those fields of hay/grains.)
If you are a vegan or vegetarian; what do you plan to eat?
We should all be concerned. Write to your legislators; let the EPA hear from you now.”
I just received this from Barbara Dauerty · Texas A&M University–Kingsville –
“As a former beekeeper and an admirer of these insdustrious pollinators, I am deeply concerned and angry that the government and orivate industry are not doing everything in their power to halt the wholesale production and distribution of, and dependence on toxins which are pushing even native bee populations ever closer to extinction.
Use of neonicotinoids MUST be prohibited NOW, or we face agricultural catastrophe!”
I am a biologist, and a former entomological technician. I used to work for a company that raised bumblebees for pollination, and certainly know the value of all pollinators to the environment, and humans in particular. I would very much like to sign this petition, as I agree wholeheartedly that there is good evidence that neonicotinoids have been shown to be very dangerous to bees and other beneficial insects.
However, I will not at this time because there is significant error in the text. I suspect that others have also declined to sign, for the same reason. (Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to say why one won’t sign a petition on Change.org.)
Can your petition be edited to remove the claim that “even more frightening, the “neonicotinoid plants” are beginning to breed with natural plants.”? Neonicotinoids are not incorporated into the DNA of the plants. Therefore there is no effect on the resulting seeds if the fields which neonicotinoids protect from insect pests (e.g., corn borer) then crossbreed with neighbouring related plants. What is inherited is the resistance by the target insects (e.g., Colorado potato beetle, cotton whitefly) to these neonicotinoids.
I think that you may be confusing neonicotinoid pesticides, which are toxic to animals, with the herbicide glyphosate (Round-Up). Round-Up Ready crops can (and do) hand down their glyphosate resistance to their descendants, as they are DNA-recombinant varieties.
Many thanks,
Alison
P.S. You might find this another interesting reference:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pubs/pest/_fact-fiche/neonicotinoid/neonicotinoid-eng.php
Dear Allison, Thank you so much for your generous information and time. I have edited it accordingly and added the new reference to the petition. Sincerely, Nancy
I think this is so important. Thank you!
The USDA just released news that they will help with planting of bee friendly plants on private property. They haven’t however banned the chemicals that are destroying the bees. What a mixed message!
We need to ban the toxic chemicals and also plant the plants to help them have abundant food.
Here is the news release from the USDA- http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/newsroom/releases/?cid=NRCSEPRD405226