There is much misleading information being circulated about spirotetramat and the recent court decision directing EPA to vacate current US registrations and repeat several steps of the registration process.  NRDC is claiming the decision is a "win" for bees and implying the judge's ruling was about the safety of the product.  It is not a win for bees or beekeepers.  And the judges ruling was only about a bureaucratic procedural error made by EPA.  As Randy Oliver has mentioned in a previous post, Dick Rogers will be presenting the results of a field study of spirotetramat use during bloom in citrus next week (I think on Thursday) at the Orlando meeting.  I will also be attending the Orlando meetings most of the week and available to discuss pesticide safety issues with anyone intersted.  In the meantime, here's Bayer's view of the spirotetramat situation.   

Big Loss for Bees

The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) claim that a judge’s decision to invalidate the US registration of the insecticide spirotetramat is a “big win” for bees is completely wrong.  It is really just the opposite.  The court’s decision was based solely on a procedural error committed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and had nothing to do with honey bee toxicity.  Spirotetramat has been extensively tested in laboratory and field studies and has shown excellent performance with regard to bee safety.  In actuality, the court decision is a “big loss” for both growers and beekeepers alike.

Spirotetramat, the active ingredient of MOVENTO and ULTOR insecticide products launched in US markets in 2008 by Bayer CropScience, has been shown to be safe to honey bee colonies even when sprayed on crops during full bloom, a time when honey bees are actively foraging.  The most recent study demonstrating this was conducted in Florida last spring in cooperation with beekeepers from the National Honey Bee Advisory Board and will be presented next week at the American Bee Research Conference in Orlando.  

Spirotetramat is considered “non-toxic” to adult honey bees according to standards determined by EPA.  In 2008, at the time when EPA was reviewing Bayer’s application for registration, there were questions about whether residues in pollen could affect the development of bee larvae.  While additional field studies were being conducted to address this, Bayer and EPA agreed to avoid any potential risk to bee larvae by prohibiting applications to blooming crops frequently visited by honey bees.  All spirotetramat-based products sold in the US carry this precautionary restriction.  

Over the past several years, Bayer initiated additional research to confirm the safety to honey bees if spirotetramat applications were allowed during bloom.  Several key pests, most notably the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) which is a vector for citrus greening disease and a serious threat to the citrus industry, are best controlled by spirotetramat when applications can be made during bloom.  If applications during bloom were found to be safe to bees, it would be a significant “win-win” for beekeepers and citrus growers by ensuring an effective control alternative for pests could be used without causing harm to honey bee colonies.  

What was learned from this additional research?  Field studies in every crop tested showed no harm to bee colonies even when spirotetramat was applied at the maximum label rate during full bloom.  

Farmers need pesticides that are effective at controlling destructive insects, but can be applied without harming honey bees.  How ironic is it that in the name of protecting bees, the NRDC is advocating removing a proven bee-safe insecticide product from the marketplace?  Make no mistake about it – this is a big loss for honey bees. 


Dave Fischer

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