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Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:23:39 EST |
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[log in to unmask] writes:
Jerry do you or does anyone have any data to support this claim that corn
seed treatments are
causing big problems? Living in the midst of a sea of corn in MN I know of
no one including myself
that falls into this category
There are some beekeepers on the east coast, MO, and in TX making this
claim, and some have had pollen analysis conducted and claim to see buildup of
residues in pollen. Almost all talk about poor nutrition being a factor.
But, the beekeepers from much of the U.S. corn belt report to us what you
are seeing in MN - bees seem to be doing ok.
That same issue comes up with Canola - scattered beekeepers blaming
neonicotinics or genetically modified plants for bee problems, yet large areas of
U.S. and huge portions of Canada have bees on Canola and are not reporting
problems.
These are the type issues that I hope will be addressed via the dialogue
with Bayer, especially if we can establish a better way of tackling these
problems, such as the proposed beekeeper advisory board that would work to assist
Bayer with respect to the design of testing to answer questions like these.
One of the most common claims is that bees on corn are nutritionally
stressed and that supplemental feeding with pollen substitutes may 'protect' the
bees from pesticide damage. That's possible, although the data for the
interaction seems to me to be a bit sketchy.
As a scientist, I've been trained to adhere to Occam's Razor which says
that the explanation of any _phenomenon_
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenon) should make as few assumptions as possible.
Following this rule, one might note that corn pollen is known to be of low
nutritional value to bees. If the bees are short of good quality pollen, and
if the bees collect corn pollen in its place, than perhaps we might propose
that the difference is simply a substandard diet?
Jerry
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