Honeybees

L'étude avait fait grand bruit. Conduite par Mickaël Henry (Institut national de la recherche agronomique, INRA) et publiée en avril dans Science, elle montrait qu'une bonne part des abeilles butineuses ne retrouvaient pas le chemin de leur ruche après avoir été exposées à de faibles doses de Cruiser – le pesticide récemment interdit sur le colza en France. Revenant sur cette affaire, la revue Science publie, vendredi 21 septembre, un "commentaire technique" de chercheurs britanniques contestant les conclusions de M. Henry et ses coauteurs. Banale dispute académique ou cas emblématique de l'influence discrète de l'industrie sur la science ?

This year, the conference by Akademie Fresenius for the agrochemical industry focussing on EU regulation (EC) 1107/2009 about the placing of plant protection products on the market, covered new findings in ecotoxicology and environmental risk assessment (ERA) as well as risk mitigation and management. The expert meeting “Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecotoxicology and Risk Management” with representatives from the industry, research facilities and regulatory authorities took place from 27 to 28 November 2012 in Mainz (near Frankfurt)/Germany. The conference introduced news concerning bee health, mechanistic effect models and refined exposure scenarios. Furthermore, the meeting dealt with time-dependent toxicity of pesticides, environmental risk assessment of pesticides and biocides and effect assessment of insecticides. In regard of regulation (EC) 1107/2009, interfaces with the Sustainable Use Directive were pointed out. On top of that, the current state of the zonal authorization procedure Guidance Document in Northern Europe and other documents in preparation was discussed at the conference. The programme and the lecture by Dutch toxicologist and author Dr. Henk Tennekes are attached.

Cresswell and Thompson have suggested an elegant way to improve honey bee colony simulations when forecasting the fate of colonies exposed to pesticides. Following their recommendations, we rescaled the model on a sound empirical data set. The adjusted forecast is bleaker than their tentative scenario.

British scientists have shot down a study on declining honeybee populations that triggered a French ban on a pesticide (Cruiser) made by Swiss agrochemicals group Syngenta (article attached). France's farm minister Stephane Le Foll withdrew Syngenta's marketing permit for the pesticide Cruiser OSR in June, citing evidence of a threat to the country's bees. But a study by Britain's Food and Environment Agency with the University of Exeter says the results of the original research were flawed. The French newspaper Le Monde reported that the laboratory of lead author James Cresswell (University of Exeter) is supported by Syngenta, the producer of Cruiser. Reliable sources report that James Cresswell received £136,000 directly from Syngenta within the past few months. Cresswell did not declare a conflict of interests.

A senior Democratic lawmaker on Wednesday questioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision not to suspend use of an insecticide linked to massive bee die-offs, asking the agency to explain what steps it is taking to ensure there is sufficient scientific understanding of the issue. Describing bees as “vital to our nation's economy and food security,” Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote a letter to the EPA expressing concern about widespread bee deaths that environmental advocacy groups say are associated with use of Bayer AG-developed pesticide clothianidin.

Reading people are being urged to get busy as a national bee campaign takes to the streets on Saturday. The activities are all part of The Bee Cause, an initiative organised by the Friends of the Earth, who called for a nationwide day of action to draw attention to how the use of chemicals in farming and horticulture are posing a threat to the nation’s bees. A University of Reading report, Decline of England’s Bees, found that increased use of insecticides used on crops pollinated by bees was having a dire effect on bees, and the increased use of herbicides was destroying important food sources for them too.

There is a new American video documentary about the global death of honeybees, bumblebees and other pollinators. This hard-hitting film lays the blame for this global ecological crisis firmly on the doorstep of the government regulatory agencies in America and Europe - working in collusion that verges on open conspiracy with the giant pesticide companies. The film has been produced by Earth Focus in the USA, working closely with PANNA - Pesticide Action Network North America, Beyond Pesticides and a variety of independent beekeepers, notably Tom Theobald and Dave Hackenburg.

The attached report by Dr. Rosemary Mason and Palle Uhd Jepsen provides evidence that, unwittingly or otherwise, a long-term strategy has existed with the aim of putting the pesticides industry in charge of human health and biodiversity. Over the last 20 years or so, a series of new products have been authorised by Regulatory Authorities around the world. Two in particular, the systemic neonicotinoid insecticides and genetically-engineered crops have caused gross contamination of the environment.

Rachel Carson would be horrified – our bees and insect-eating birds become scarcer year by year and there is overwhelming evidence pointing to neonicotinoid pesticides as a major cause, but the UK government's “Advisory Committee on Pesticides” has decided not to ban them, unlike some other countries (Michael McCarthy, 7 September). Only the agrochemical industry will rejoice. For the rest of us, food will become more costly as we lose crop pollinators and the sound and soul of our summer countryside withers and is silenced. Government should be ashamed, and there is no point paying farmers to plant “bee banks” and “nectar borders” if you then spray the bees to death.

Am 11. September 2012 fand im österreichischen Parlament ein Runder Tisch zum Thema “Bienensterben und Neonikotinoide” statt. Beim Runden Tisch hat der Toxikologe Henk Tennekes ein Referat gehalten (Beilage). Tennekes hat sich mit der Wirkung der umstrittenen Neonikotinoide auf Bienen befasst. Der Runde Tisch steht wohl im Zusammenhang mit der AGES-Studie zu den Neonikotinoiden und dem Beschluss des Landwirtschaftsausschusses des Nationalrates, eine Expertengruppe zum Thema “Bienensterben” einzusetzen. Der Niederländer Henk Tennekes hat als einer der Ersten die Wirkungsweise von Maisbeize und Zusammenhänge mit dem Bienensterben erforscht. Anhand seiner Ergebnisse warnt er vor einer drohenden "Apokalypse". Das Referat stand unter dem Titel “Das Ende der Artenvielfalt: Neuartige Pestizide töten Insekten und Vögel”.