We humans are an amazing species. If viewed from a distant galaxy, the observer would point out that here is a species that is intentionally killing itself off. Here is a species that has knowledge that it is causing itself great harm and yet it continues this harm to itself and potentially will drive itself into extinction... wow, what a species. And, all for a few dollars more.
We have full awareness of the importance of those other species we refer to as 'pollinators'. It is the 'pollinators' who allow our species to survive. Without 'pollinators' agriculture as we have known it through history would collapse.
The current honeybee population in the United States is less than half of what it was at the end of the second world war. This winter season witnessed the loss of more than 23 percent of managed honeybee colonies in this country. Bees contribute $15 billion in crop value in the United States. The real question for human beings is, 'do we want to eat?'.
We are doing it to the bees in every way possible. One of the biggest killers of bees is the poison we use to kill them... our pesticides. Not that we consider the bees to be pests, but virtually every other flying insect is thought to be a pest and as we kill those insects, we kill the bees. We kill insects because it is good for business.
Additionally, climate change has caused the flower opening season to have changed and the bee hibernation season isn't in step with this 'new' season. This also is causing bees to die.
Environmental degradation contributes to bee deaths. Pollution kills bees. Human survival depends on the health of planet Earth and all of the species that live here. There is a certain coordination in nature between the various parts of the 'web of life'. Humans are part of that 'web'. Bees are part of that 'web'. Life on Earth is related to life on Earth and until humans recognize the importance of these relationships, we will continue to kill everything off, including ourselves... and that's the truth !!!
Additionally, climate change has caused the flower opening season to have changed and the bee hibernation season isn't in step with this 'new' season. This also is causing bees to die.
Environmental degradation contributes to bee deaths. Pollution kills bees. Human survival depends on the health of planet Earth and all of the species that live here. There is a certain coordination in nature between the various parts of the 'web of life'. Humans are part of that 'web'. Bees are part of that 'web'. Life on Earth is related to life on Earth and until humans recognize the importance of these relationships, we will continue to kill everything off, including ourselves... and that's the truth !!!
from EcoWatch: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that three of the nation's most-used neonicotinoid pesticides pose significant risks to commercial honey bees. But in a second decision, which represents a deep bow to the pesticide industry, the agency refused to restrict the use of any leading bee-killing pesticides despite broad evidence of their well-established role in alarming declines of pollinators.
The EPA analysis indicates that honey bees can be harmed by the widely-used pesticides clothianidin, thiamethoxam and dinetofuran. The agency also released an updated assessment for a fourth leading neonicotinoid—imidacloprid—showing that in addition to harms to pollinators identified last year, the pesticide can also harm aquatic insects.
Yet on the same day the EPA revealed the dangers these pesticides pose to pollinators, it reversed course and backed away from a proposed rule to place limited restrictions on use of the bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides when commercial honey bees are present in a field. Instead, the agency announced voluntary guidelines that impose no mandatory use restrictions.
"It's outrageous that on the same day the EPA acknowledged these dangerous pesticides are killing bees it also reversed course on mandating restrictions on their use," said Lori Ann Burd, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Environmental Health program. "This is like a doctor diagnosing your illness but then deciding to withhold the medicine you need to cure it."
Yet on the same day the EPA revealed the dangers these pesticides pose to pollinators, it reversed course and backed away from a proposed rule to place limited restrictions on use of the bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides when commercial honey bees are present in a field. Instead, the agency announced voluntary guidelines that impose no mandatory use restrictions.
"It's outrageous that on the same day the EPA acknowledged these dangerous pesticides are killing bees it also reversed course on mandating restrictions on their use," said Lori Ann Burd, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Environmental Health program. "This is like a doctor diagnosing your illness but then deciding to withhold the medicine you need to cure it."
Neonicotinoids are a class of pesticides known to have both acute and chronic effects on honey bees, birds, butterflies and other pollinator species, and they are a major factor in overall pollinator declines. These systemic insecticides cause entire plants, including their pollen and nectar, to become toxic to pollinators. These chemicals are also slow to break down and they build up in soil, where they pose an especially grave threat to thousands of species of ground-nesting native bees. In November the largest and most comprehensive ever global assessment of pollinators found that 40 percent of pollinating insects are threatened with extinction, naming neonicotinoids as a significant driver of wild pollinator declines.
"The new policy does virtually nothing to protect America's thousands of declining native bee species or to curb the escalating use of these harmful neonicotinoid pesticides across hundreds of millions of acres in the United States," said Burd. "It's shocked that the EPA's response to the crisis of declining pollinators and the abundant science linking that decline to neonicotinoid insecticides is to meekly offer a policy encouraging industry to consider restricting pesticide use in limited situations where plants are blooming while commercial honey bees have been brought in to work the fields. This is a rejection of science that should be deeply troubling to all Americans as we move into a Trump administration."
Neonicotinoids have already been banned by the European Union and in 2016 they were banned on all U.S. national wildlife refuges due to their harmful impacts on wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. Canada has also proposed a ban on a neonicotinoid because of its unacceptable threats.
"The new policy does virtually nothing to protect America's thousands of declining native bee species or to curb the escalating use of these harmful neonicotinoid pesticides across hundreds of millions of acres in the United States," said Burd. "It's shocked that the EPA's response to the crisis of declining pollinators and the abundant science linking that decline to neonicotinoid insecticides is to meekly offer a policy encouraging industry to consider restricting pesticide use in limited situations where plants are blooming while commercial honey bees have been brought in to work the fields. This is a rejection of science that should be deeply troubling to all Americans as we move into a Trump administration."
Neonicotinoids have already been banned by the European Union and in 2016 they were banned on all U.S. national wildlife refuges due to their harmful impacts on wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. Canada has also proposed a ban on a neonicotinoid because of its unacceptable threats.
read related articles:
It's Official: First Bumble Bee Species Listed as Endangered in 'Race Against Extinction'
It's Official: First Bumble Bee Species Listed as Endangered in 'Race Against Extinction'
Death of the Bees due to Neonicotinoid Pesticides Produced by Bayer-Monsanto, Sygenta
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