>In his book, Dutch toxicologist Henk Tennekes (2010) makes the case that
the contamination of

> surface water by neonicotinoids is so widespread in the Netherlands (and
> possibly elsewhere in
> Europe), that loss of insect biomass on a continental scale is behind many
> of the widespread
> declines that are being seen, be they of marsh birds, heath or meadow
> birds or even coastal
> species.


I asked Dr Tennekes to explain why in the data that he cited, that birds
declined in population in nature preserves and non agricultural areas if
neonics were to blame.  He could not answer.

> However, given all the evidence, the report recommends neonics use be
discontinued.

The "report" doesn't make a recommendation--the author makes a
recommendation based upon his interpretation of the "evidence."  Others
look at exactly the same evidence, and come to other conclusions.

>
> >and less than one corn seed per day treated with any of the neonicotinoid
> insecticides is sufficient to cause reproductive abnormalities.


Could well be the case if birds didn't quickly learn that they didn't enjoy
the effects of the first seed!

At some point, one might consider exercising some common sense here!  Corn
farmers are not going to allow insects to eat up their crop, so there will
not be much bird feed in a corn field no matter what!  If you make the
effort to look at the bird kill incident reports that I previously cited,
you will see that far more birds are killed by the use of conventional
insecticide sprays than by seed treatments.

Look, I keep an open mind to every anti-neonic claim, and do my homework to
see whether it holds water.  I've listed the indisputable negative effects
of some uses of neonics at my website--I'm no salesman for neonics!  But I
simply can't find any evidence that their use as seed treatments are
causing the problems that some claim.  On the other hand, I find abundant
evidence that to all but aphids and perhaps earthworms (and maybe some
aquatic inverts), that the neonic seed treatments are an environmental
improvement over the alternatives (unless you count organic farming--which
I support).

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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