>
> >This whole anti-Bayer, anti-Monsanto thing is distracting us from the
> real problems
i am in complete agreement.
Re Bayer, they have put serious effort into working with beekeepers and
working to avert negative effects to bees from their pesticides. We as an
industry would be wise to work with them, rather than against them.
> Bee health will not improve by going after farmers. If you think that
beekeeping is incompatible with agriculture, either negotiate with the
farmers to use different methods or move the bees away. The bees can be
moved, but not the farms.
Partially true, but EPA also uses bees as bioindictors. n order to see
whether a pesticide is causing adverse effects to pollinators in general,
bees are used as an indicator. Even though a farmer owns the land, it is
not legal to apply pesticides in a manner that harms pollinators or
nontarget species.
>
> >If the farmers really think they need bees, they will accommodate
> beekeepers....This is a free market situation which needs to work itself
> out.
Corn, soy, and hay alfalfa farmers don't need bees, so we can't count on
them to "accommodate" beekeepers. So beekeepers must depend upon the
enforcement of the label when pesticide misuse results in bee kills. This
will likely require occasional legal action to keep farmers,
municipalities, and other applicators in line. I strongly support such
action by beekeepers, and have pledged money toward a beekeeper legal
defense fund for pesticide misapplication lawsuits.
I agree with you Pete, that the screeching at Bayer and Monsanto have
distracted and divided the effectiveness of the bee industry. I am greatly
heartened by the new direction of the National Honey Bee Advisory Board
with their new members--who have experience and investment in pesticide
application, agriculture, science, and beekeeping. I feel that the NHBAB
is moving in a positive, science-based direction, which means that the
other stakeholders will be more willing to work with beekeepers.
If we work cooperatively with the "players," they will work with us:
BASF currently has a bee-savvy research chemist from Germany stationed in
the almonds trying to solve possible issues with their fungicide Pristine.
Bayer has hired independent bee researchers to collect pollen throughout
the corn, soy, canola belt for good field data. I find Bayer to be very
cooperative and open, and their new bee representative has recently met
with bee industry leaders.
The top risk manager from EPA flew out to California this weekend to
investigate a report of collapsing colonies that may have had residual
pesticide issues from fall.
Monsanto has hired a trusted apiculturist, Jerry Hayes, to help the company
assist beekeepers.
The editor of Bee Culture is currently touring California with photographer
Kodua Galieti. We went through some of my dinks, and photographed colonies
at various stages of recovery from, or collapse from viruses. We caught a
perfect example of sudden CCD on film.
I'm feeling that we are going to make some major progress on pesticide
issues in the near future!
--
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm
|
