Serpent in the Garden:

Who's Killing Our Pollinators?
by C. L. Cook
More dire perhaps than the prospective loss of the Polar Bear, Great Whales, or Siberian Tiger, is the near eradication of North America's humble bumble bee, and other pollinator insects and birds; the erasure of the involuntary contributors to our agricultural efforts could mean extinction for US!

An ominous warning was issued to the U. S. House of Representatives' Committee on Agriculture from apiarists and entomologists, farmers and government scientists; the mysterious mass death of bees across North America is spreading, so far spelling an end to an estimated 80% of the populations studied. 

 

Colony Collapse Disorder

In her testimony to the Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture, Pennsylvania State University entomology professor, Diana Cox-Foster says, honey bees alone are an essential pollinator for over 90 varieties of fruits and vegetables consumed worldwide. In real economic terms, the bees' value to the economy exceeds $14.6 billion, just in the United States. And she says, the news isn't good for either agri-business, or the wild environment.

"In addition to agricultural crops, honey bees also pollinate many native plants in the ecosystem. Populations of honey bees are in jeopardy due to the 1988 introduction of varroa mites, recognized previously as a major threat to bee colonies in the U.S. Down from a peak of 80,000 colonies in 1982, an estimated 38,500 colonies in September 2006 are being managed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."

"Recently, increased deaths in bee colonies with unique symptoms (termed Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)) seriously threaten the ability of the bee industry to meet the diverse pollination needs of fruit and vegetable producers within the State and across the United States. These symptoms have now been reported in 24 states across the continental United States and in two Canadian provinces."

After years of lethal stress due to mites and fungal attack, the reason for the die-off occurring now in the U.S. and western Canada is still a mystery, but Cox-Foster takes an educated guess as to what's behind it.

"A unique aspect of CCD is that there is a significant delay in robbing of the dead colony by bees from other colonies or invasion by pest insects such as waxworm moths or small hive beetles; this suggests the presence of a deterrent chemical or toxin in the hive." Adding:

"Of particular concern are pesticides being widely used to control insect pests in agriculture, urban environments, and animal systems. Among these are the neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides that have been extensively adopted for pest management. This class of pesticides is recognized as having extremely low toxicity in humans and other vertebrates and as highly effective in controlling insect pests; however, these chemicals are known to be highly toxic to honey bees and other pollinators."

Maintaining scientific circumspection, Professor Cox-Foster doesn't finger the chemicals sold to farmers directly, but makes her fears clear to the legislative body, saying:

"Some research has suggested that these systemic pesticides can translocate or move through plants to become localized in pollen and nectar at concentrations that may affect bees. Research is warranted to address the effects on the bees and other pollinators of these compounds at the concentrations found in pollen and honey made from nectar collected by the bees. It is essential to determine whether these pesticides play a role as a causal factor in the CCD symptoms."

According to the CCD Working Group, a collaboration of various State Departments of Agriculture, the US Department of Agriculture, Penn State University, and Bee Alert, Inc. reports finding anomalies in Pennsylvania's colony collapse:

"In the PA bees, cursory examination of the gut contents revealed many pollen grains of unknown origin. The pollen grains seemed largely intact and many did not appear digested (which is abnormal). All PA samples were found to have nosema spores in their rectal contents. The sting gland of many examined bees were obviously scarred with distinct black “marks;”  this type of pin-point melanization or darkening is indicative of an immune response to some sort of pathogen."
 

Which plants are creating these "alien" pollen grains, not digestible for bees, remains a mystery; but worth at least a cursory look may be the proliferating fields of genetically "modified" crops, crops whose novel dna could be more than the insects, and perhaps birds too, can handle.

In its report to congress, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) notes:

"Of the possible causes of CCD being examined, one that has become the subject of debate is whether certain chemicals or combinations of chemicals could be contributing to CCD, including some pesticides and possibly some fungicides. One class of insecticide being studied are neonicotinoids, which contain the active ingredient imidacloprid, and similar other chemicals, such as clothianidin and thiamethoxam." Adding:

"Honey bees are thought possibly to be affected by such chemicals, which are known to work their way through the plant up into the flowers and leave residues in the nectar and pollen. The scientists studying CCD note that the doses taken up by bees are not lethal, but they are concerned about possible chronic problems caused by long-term exposure. As noted by the NRC, some studies report sublethal effects of pesticides on bee foraging behavior that may impair the navigational and foraging abilities of honey bees."

Like the climate change debate, CCD hasn't yet identified a single smoking gun villain, but the effects of it are widely recognized, universally considered troubling, and potentially profound; the only difference being, the full effect of CCD is just a failed crop away.

 

The next time you're tempted to swat an insect, or spray it dead with some chemical poison or other, consider it is all that connects your mouth to the food you put in it.

 

 

 

Chris Cook is a contributing editor to www.pacificfreepress.com and hosts Gorilla Radio.



CSR cited sources:

23 Concerns about imidacloprid, as CRS-9
24 Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, “Imidacloprid, Fact Sheet,” Journal of Pesticide Reform, Spring 2001, at [http://www.moraybeekeepers.co.uk/imiacloprid];
Apiculteurs de France, “Composite Document of Present Position Relating to Gaucho, Sunflower and Bees, at [http://www.beekeeping.com/articles/

us/gaucho/manifestation_paris_us.htm].

 

25 Pastis, S., “Mysterious Bee Deaths Strike Central Valley,” Valley Voice, [no date], at [http://www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/

vv/stories/beedeaths.htm].

 

26 For example, see EPA’s fact sheet on clothianiden, issued May 3002, at
[http://www.epa.gov/

opprd001/factsheets/clothianidin.pdf].

 

27 vanEngelsdorp, D. et al., “Fall Dwindle Disease: Investigations into the Causes of Sudden and Alarming Colony Losses Experienced by Beekeepers in the Fall of 2006,” Dec. 15, 2006; Interview with Jerry Hayes, Chief of the Apiary Section at Florida’s Department of Agriculture, March 2, 2007, at [http://www.loe.org].

 

28 Section 804 of the 1970 Agricultural Act, P.L. 91-524. The program was extended in 1973, authorizing payments to eligible beekeepers through December 31, 1977.

 

29 USDA, APHIS “Plant Protection and Honeybee Acts,” at [http://www.aphis.usda.gov/
plant_health/permits/organism/plant_protection_honeybee_acts.shtml].

 

Regulations on import permits for bees are at 7 CFR 322. The act was originally enacted Aug. 31, 1922.

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