I LOVE HONEYBEES AS MUCH AS THE NEXT ENTOMOLOGIST, BUT IS EPA GETTING CARRIED AWAY IN ITS FIT OF BEEOPHILIA

With the exception of California, Pacific Northwest agriculture is one of the most heavily dependent regions in North America on bees for pollination. Honey bees are suffering from a variety of ills that have posed significant challenges for beekeepers, have reduced the volume of bees available for pollination and increased the cost of pollination services. Among the culprits implicated include genetics, diseases, mites and pesticides. No group of insecticides have been more implicated than the 4a group of insecticides, neonicotinoids and in particular, the nitroguanidine subclass of that group. This group includes the most heavily used neonicotinoid insecticides including imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, dinotefuran and clothianidin. EPA is calling for substantial new labeling information on neonicotinoid insecticides that has the potential for being fairly disruptive and challenging for growers and be a compliance headache for manufacturers.
In a review of the impact on blueberries the impact of the new regulations was varied depending on location across the country. No place in the U.S. will be more severely impacted than Washington State. The impact of these new regulations can have unexpected impacts, for examples crops not requiring pollination services will have to be managed differently. Asparagus, a crop that is wind pollinated, but is attractive to bees during the period requiring insect control measures will be subjected to the new regulations. The potato industry is concerned that the regulation will impact there crop even though it is not pollinated by bees nor is attracted to bees and is seeking extensive funding to conduct research on the issue.

Alan Schreiber
Agriculture Development Group, Inc.
2621 Ringold Road
Eltopia, WA 99330

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