Beleid en debat

Bundesminister Berlakovich zu der schriftlichen Anfrage betreffend Bienensterben - Landesrat Rudi Anschober fordert ein österreichweites Verbot von Maisbeizmitteln zum Schutz der Bienen

Anfragebeantwortung durch den Bundesminister für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft Dipl.-Ing. Nikolaus Berlakovich zu der schriftlichen Anfrage (7588/J) der Abgeordneten Ing. Kurt Gartlehner, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft betreffend Bienensterben, siehe Anhang. "Umwelt- und Landwirtschaftsminister Berlakovich muss endlich ein österreichweites Verbot von Maisbeizmitteln zum Schutz der Bienen durchsetzen. Die Saatgut-Beizmittel haben in den letzten Jahren nachweislich Bienenvölker getötet, jetzt geht es nicht mehr um weitere Analysen. Leider ist für die aktuelle Bienensaison wieder mit Bienenverlusten zu rechnen. Es braucht endlich Taten statt Worte", so Umwelt-Landesrat Rudi Anschober.

Manfred Hederer (Präsident des Verbands der Berufsimker): „Der Todeskampf der Honigbiene und der Imkerei in Deutschland hat begonnen“

In diesen Tagen blühen die ersten Kirschbäume, verströmen ihren Duft. Doch das Summen der Bienen, die damit angelockt werden sollen, dürfte vielerorts ausbleiben: Honigbienen-Sterben hat je nach Region „bis zu 80 Prozent der Völker vernichtet“, berichtet die „Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt“ (DBU). Besonders betroffen sind die neuen Bundesländer, aber auch Teile Bayerns, Niedersachsens, Nordrhein-Westfalens und das Saarland. Manfred Hederer (58), Präsident des Verbands der Berufsimker (DBIB) und mit fast 60 Prozent Verlustquote selbst Geschädigter: „Viele von uns kämpfen nach diesem Horrorwinter um ihre Existenz, etliche Hobby-Imker denken ans Aufhören.“

Toxikologe Henk Tennekes: „Wenn die Insekten verschwinden, kollabiert das Ökosystem"

Die Suche nach Ursachen für das Bienensterben zeigt: Manche Feinde sind vom Menschen gemacht. Ganz oben auf der Liste stehen sogenannte Neonicotinoide. Dazu gehören Mittel wie Clothianidin, Imidacloprid oder Thiamethoxam – Nervengifte zur Schädlingsbekämpfung. Der niederländische Toxikologe Henk Tennekes hat ein Buch zu diesem Thema veröffentlicht.

Seine Studien beschreiben die Wirkung von Nervengiften auf Insekten: „Sie binden sich an Rezeptoren im zentralen Nervensystem und diese Bindung ist nahezu irreversibel, ist unumkehrbar.“ Ist die Chemie der wahre Verursacher des Bienensterbens?

Der Biologe Dr. Bruno Hügel von der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt fordert besseren Bienenschutz

Der Biologe Dr. Bruno Hügel von der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt war der Gastredner bei der Jahresversammlung des Bezirks-Bienenzuchtvereins Eichstätt. Sein Thema: mögliche Ursachen des Bienentodes zu erörtern. Hügel ging auf das im November vergangenen Jahres erschienene Buch des holländischen Toxikologen Dr. Henk Tennekes "A Disaster in the Making" ein.

Jeff Pettis: Bee decline in the US 'not explained by pesticides'

A leading American bee researcher, Dr. Jeff Pettis, who first posed a link between insecticides called neonicotinoids and bee deaths told British MPs in April 2011 that his research doesn't explain bee losses seen in the US (presentation and study report attached). "The lab study certainly seemed very clear that low levels of pesticides were impacting on honey bee health. But when we look in the field we don't see the same results. Even when colonies that were exposed to low levels we're not seeing outbreaks of the gut parasite pathogen that we saw in the lab" said Dr Jeff Pettis of the US Agricultural Research Service. The video interview with Jeff Pettis is at this link http://bcove.me/fyyb68e7

Abnormal Foraging Behavior Induced by Sublethal Dosage of Imidacloprid in the Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

The foraging behavior of the honey bee workers was investigated to show the effects of imidacloprid. By measuring the time interval between two visits at the same feeding site, we found that the normal foraging interval of honey bee workers was within 300 s. However, these honey bee workers delayed their return visit for >300 s when they were treated orally with sugar water containing imidacloprid. This time delay in their return visit is concentration-dependent, and the lowest effective concentration was found to be 50 μg/liter. When bees were treated with an imidacloprid concentration higher than 1,200 μg/liter, they showed abnormalities in revisiting the feeding site. Some of them went missing, and some were present again at the feeding site the next day. Returning bees also showed delay in their return trips. Our results demonstrated that sublethal dosages of imidacloprid were able to affect foraging behavior of honey bees.

US Senator Robert Menendez: What steps is the E.P.A. taking to clarify and assess the risks to pollinators from chronic, sub-lethal neonicotinoid exposure?

For several years, Tom Theobald, a beekeeper in Boulder, Colo., has been trying to check out his suspicions that a relatively new class of pesticides has been interfering with the normal breeding and development of his stock. The pesticides, based on the chemistry of nicotine, are generically called neonicotinoids. This week Mr. Theobald got reinforcements from two very different quarters. First, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey sent a letter to Lisa P. Jackson, the E.P.A. administrator, that said in part: While large farming operations import managed honeybees for pollination, farmers with smaller, polyculture farms in New Jersey rely heavily on about 350 native species of bees. Alarmingly, several species of bumblebees are believed to have already vanished and next to nothing is known about the health of other native species of bees.

Martin Caton MP tables Early Day Motion 1684 to halt the use of neonicotinoid insecticides

GOWER MP Martin Caton has launched a Parliamentary campaign calling on the UK Government to halt the use of a new generation of pesticides linked to bee deaths until a review has been carried out. He tabled an Early Day Motion, welcoming the decision by Robert Watson, chief scientific advisor at Defra, to initiate a review of all the scientific research relating to bee and other pollinator decline and the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.

Doubt is their product

Few scientific challenges are more complex than understanding the health risks of a chemical or drug. Investigators cannot feed toxic compounds to people to see what doses cause cancer. Instead laboratory researchers rely on animal tests, and epidemiologists examine the human exposures that have already happened in the field. Both types of studies have many uncertainties, and scientists must extrapolate from the evidence to make causal inferences and recommend protective measures. Because absolute certainty is rarely an option, regulatory programs would not be effective if such proof were required. Government officials have to use the best available evidence to set limits for harmful chemicals and determine the safety of pharmaceuticals. Uncertainty is an inherent problem of science, but manufactured uncertainty is another matter entirely. Over the past three decades, industry groups have frequently become involved in the investigative process when their interests are threatened. If, for example, studies show that a company is exposing its workers to dangerous levels of a certain chemical, the business typically responds by hiring its own researchers to cast doubt on the studies.