The main points Bayer makes, as expressed by its resident
apiologist, Dick Rogers, are:
http://www.aginfo.com/index.cfm/event/report/id/21711
a) "My work and the weight of evidence in the literature show no
link to honey bee colony losses from exposure to field relevant
residues of neonicitinoids."
b) "Many studies are looking for links to neonics but there are
no definitive, reproducible studies that have produced evidence
to support the often speculative conclusions."
c) "If neonics were truely involved in honey bee colony losses
it would have become clear long before this."
The Xerces Report fails to present field evidence that refutes
Bayer; i.e. fails to provide direct, epidemiological or even
anecdotal evidence of landscape scale harm to honeybees or
other pollinators in heavy neonic usage settings vs low usage
settings.
Instead, in the last paragraph of the report we see Xerces invoking
the precautionary principle; i.e. "Applications of neonicitinoids
should be limited until we have data on how neonicitinoid use
on a specific plant may be mananged to provide pest protection
without exposing beneficial insects to lethal or sublethal levels
in nectar and pollen."
Thus the Xerces postion is highly philosophical much like we see
from academics who seek grant money for pesticide related bee
studies; i.e. "we fantasize neonics might be causing long term
harm to pollinators and we desire funding for studies that show
they are not causing that harm."
One catch, however, is that they do not clearly define what they
mean by the words "harm", "long term", "sublethal", etc. Another
gotcha is they don't clearly define what their harmful impact
standard is; i.e. zero harm, negligible harm, incidental
harm, minor harm, significant harm, and so forth. So there's
no end to the game; e.g. the new research findings will lead to
more fantasizing of possible effects that no one thought
of before and "urgently" need to be investigated. An endless,
self reinforcing treadmill that provides years of career sustaining
funding for the academics as well as publicity and associated
financial support for Xerces and the other pollinator groups.
Paul Cherubini
El Dorado, Calif.
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