Gavin
Thanks for the comments about CCD and the U.K. I'd much like to hear from
beekeepers in countries other than the U.S.
As per the neonicotinics like Imidacloprid, PSU is looking at them.
I was involved in litigation in the U.S., looking at studies of these
chemicals, beekeeper samples, etc.
These new generation pesticides are in the U.S. and their use is increasing.
More worrisome, they've gone from seed and soil applications to direct
spraying on crops like cotton. However, CCD doesn't seem to play out in quite
the same as the French experience, and with 24 reporting states, its a bit of a
stretch to attribute all of this losses to these new chemicals -- and if
they are the cause, we should have seen it some years ago.
We certainly did see bee losses for at least 24 U.S. and Canadian beekeepers
over the last few years, but it didn't play out the same. I had no problem
representing beekeeper with bees on cotton and claim for damages from these
chemicals, when the chemical was in their bees, wax, etc. But, we don't have
that specific fit with respect to CCD, unless PSU suddenly finds some new
evidence. They have hints of this in some samples, just as most samples have
viruses, fungi, etc.
My opinion, just as its impossible to find bees without a trace of PCBs
anywhere in the U.S., many pesticides used in the U.S. (new and old) show up in
all bee samples -- but presence doesn't equal bee poisoning. Could these
chemicals be involved? Yes. Do we have sufficient evidence to conclude this? No.
But it is being looked at.
Jerry
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