??When only the worlds beekeepers were raising concerns about the
neonicotinoids most chemical companies considered us simply like a small
sand spur in a giants foot.

Other groups are now looking into the systemic pesticides. Their reach is
far greater than BEE-L and the bee magazines.

A new label being printed for growers says:
"product free of systemic pesticides"

Expect to see these labels before long in the organic food sections of most
grocery stores (and most stores now do have these sections}

I grew organic for 13 years and still maintain a dialog with those still
producing chemical free produce.

Each year I like millions of others purchase the Mother Earth spring garden
guide. Excellent information this spring for the small garden for the
backyard!

What is different this year if the first article (page 6) is about the
systemic pesticides.

Title:
Systemic Pesticides:
Chemicals you can't wash off

Author:
Barbara Pleasant

I won't go into the entire article but will say the facts presented are
correct from my research.

A very small part of the article talks about the bees and CCD bees dying but
sticks to the facts.

The main point of the article *from my reading* is to let people know that
the neonicotinoids are IN the food the systemics are used on.

Maybe the article can be found on the net? If not the magazine will be on
the stands until May 2nd.(the cover says)

The article was grounded pretty well except for a couple of the authors
statements:

"There is no scientific evidence yet that says food laced with
neonicotinoids will harm humans, but why is the EPA allowing systemic
pesticides on food plants in the first place?"

"Do people really want to eat pumpkins that are so full of poison that they
kill ever cucumber beetle that dares take a bite?"

The author states:
"The EPA has launched a comprehensive review of the environmental safety of
imidacloprid , but we will not know the results until 2014!"

"In the meantime ,the State of California initiated its own reevaluation
(currently ongoing) of all four systemics in February 2009,among its reasons
, California Dept. of Pesticide regulation cited reports of eucalyptus
nectar and pollen with imidacloprid levels up to 550 PPB-nearly three times
the 185 PPB needed to kill honey bees"

The article also has a picture of sweet corn seed she was sent:
caption:
"A garden seed company sent us a packet of these seeds for a new sweet corn.
The seeds were treated with Cruiser , which is thiamethoxm, a systemic
neonicotinoid insecticide. They were also treated with four fungicides :
azoxystrobin, carboxin, fludioxonil and mefenoxam"

The focus being put on the FACT that when you consume a fruit or vegetable 
on
which the neonics have been used you also consume neonics has to be a
concern for the chemical companies. Beekeepers do not even make a statistic
in the U.S.  population BUT the entire population will be consuming fruits
and produce containing the neonics.

If a single person can show me a long term study of the effects of the above
ingesting of the neonics by humans  I am very interested. Because NONE exist
then all that  exists in hypothesis by chemical companies as to long term
effects!

There is atrazine in my water supply in Missouri. Proven damage to humans
long term. I drink Reverse osmosis water. My source at the water department
says they could remove the atrazine from water only to be used for drinking
but not possible to remove from the total water supply. He predicted the
amount of atrazine will continue to rise until the water will be recommended
to only be used for washing and uses other than drinking in the next decade.
More atrazine is being used each year and is working its way into the ground
water . The only solution my source said was to discontinue use of atrazine
but the users are powerful and have the powerful farm lobby behind them. He
said even if the use was discontinued today there is 20 years of use
leaching towards the ground water as we speak.

Back to reading the spring gardening magazine of Mother Earth News!

What else to do with 20 inches of snow on the ground? I miss the middle 70
F. of the south but glad to get home.

bob

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