Guardian (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island)

Tuesday, May 1, 2001

Let honey bees, insects do what they do best

   Editor:

The soil and its products are an economic lifeline in P.E.I. The potato
wart crisis may not have been preventable but other problems can be
prevented before there is an economic impact if we are alert and responsive.
   I am a beekeeper whose beehives have been devastated in the past year. Over
80 per cent are dead. For many years, my losses were
only five to 10 per cent. Other beekeepers have a similar experience.
   Imidacloprid is an insecticide sown in the soil or sprayed on potato crops
or both. It is very effective for killing Colorado potato beetles.
Unfortunately, other beneficial insects who accidentally ingest it also die.
Many insecticides/fungicides are rapidly biodegraded and do not
linger in the soil. Those that do, such as Imidacloprid, leave residues
that go
up the food chain into subsequent field crops grown in a
rotation or into plants in field edges or in ditches subject to runoff. The
levels of these are accumulating with subsequent crop years.
   Blueberries are potentially a big business in P.E.I. similar to Nova
Scotia,
New Brunswick and Maine. Our government has invested
heavily in blueberries. Insects are required to increase crop yields through
better pollination up to two to three-fold. Honey bees and wild
insects do the job if given the chance and are a form of crop insurance for
the
growers.
   In the past, environmentalists have gotten a bad rap for scare tactics and
the like. We are what we eat — so are the bees.
   R.M. Mundle, Charlottetown