In response to Dave Greens' letter, from the 26.12.96. I agree to every word
in this letter. I would like to remark that the adverse effects of
pesticides are not limited to direct harm come to the bees, causing decline
of hives and thus inefficient pollination, but, there are some long term
effects of substances that have deterrent activity, causing the bees to
avoid visiting treated plant's flowers for weeks after the spraying (or
otherwise application). A known example in Israel is IMIDACLOPRID (sold
under commercial names like Gaucho and Confidure).THere were several
observations in Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae crops of bees (honeybees and
bumblebees) avoiding the flowers up to six weeks after treatment. The
results are disastrous, both to the farmer and the beekeeper. I think that
any effort to impeove the situation mus include a wide scale education
programm for farmers, pesticides' applicators and beekeepers, aimed to
upgrade agricultural management.
Dan
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Name: WEil Dan
Pollination Services Yad-Mordechai
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Date: 29/12/1996
Time: 08:33:12 AM