It’s been five years since SafeLawns blew the whistle on the fact that a group of pesticides was responsible for the sudden die-off of bees known as colony collapse disorder. We were threatened with lawsuits and endured a smear campaign, but ultimately our bee story has been picked up by thousands of other media outlets.

It’s been a year since America’s top bee scientist finally agreed with us and all the other organizations that had reached the conclusion that these pesticides — synthetic nicotines known as imidacloprid and clothianidin — were killing bees. This was the “smoking gun” research that SHOULD have compelled our government to finally take action to protect the bees once and for all.

But nothing. Several films have been produced to draw attention to the matter. Bee keepers have visited Washington, D.C., to beg the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Agriculture to take action. But still nothing.

Most recently on Jan. 3 a new study out of Purdue University signed, sealed and delivered the bee science. In lay terms, the scientists found that bees get poisoned: 1) when the synthetic pesticides are applied to fields and lawns; 2) when the pesticides wind up in the pollen of dandelions and other flowers in and around the fields and lawns; and 3) when bees drink water contaminated by pesticides. In other words, if the pesticides are applied, the bees will find them.

The national pesticide group Beyond Pesticides is trying to get the word out about this new study. Mother Jones and its excellent environmental writer, Tom Philpott, is also staying on top of the case:
http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/01/purdue-study-implicates-bayer-pesticide-bee-die-offs. Meanwhile, as Philpott reports, the manufacturer of these pesticides, Bayer, continues to accumulate record sales.

This comes down to the health of our food system and planet vs. the health of Bayer’s bottom line. Five years ago our first headline asked: “Is Bayer Killing the Bees?” The answer has proven to be yes.

The government is still sitting idly by . . . but we can’t let it.

In this, a campaign year, ask all your elected officials if they understand colony collapse disorder and the fact that bees are necessary for at least a third of the meals we consume. Take a few minutes of your own time to send a comment to this link: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0865-0001.

Better still, contact EPA’s Jim Jones at Jones.jim@epa.gov or call him at 1-202-564-2902 to demand that the agency bans synthetic nicotine pesticides — just like they did years ago in France, Germany and several other countries. If enough of you call or email, you will get noticed.

You can make a difference.

We’ve been at this now for more than five years. As one of the first organizations in North America to go public with the notion that a class of pesticides made from synthetic nicotine were responsible for the sudden bee death known as colony collapse disorder, we were threatened legally, verbally and, yes, even physically.

These days it’s widely accepted that imidacloprid and clothianidin are responsible for the unprecedented wipeout of 30-50 percent of the world’s beehives each year, yet our Environmental Protection Agency appalling does nothing. Movies have been made about the subject, the EPA admitted that clothianidin never should have been registered in the first place and the government’s own scientist has come forward with a smoking gun study.

And nothing. As we head toward winter, our food supply continues to hang in the balance.

Our friend, Joe Speeney, from New Jersey send along this video from Dan Rather that offers one of the best overviews of the subject that I’ve seen: http://vimeo.com/29419200. Rather, as you’ll see, is well past his prime as he approaches 80 next month — but it’s gratifying to know that he still likes to dig for the right stories. The former CBS news anchor also has this piece on the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-rather/honeybees-pesticides-food-chain-_b_975934.html?ir=Food.

A petition launched late last year at Change.org generated more than 13,700 signatures, but — like everything else — failed to compel our government to take action.

It’s unlikely a Internet report from an 80-year-old news anchor will change anything, either. But everyone can make a difference this autumn by avoiding all grub-killing products that include imidacloprid or clothianidin. If you’re really motivated, send a link to this blog to your elected officials and ask them to get involved. If you’re bold, call EPA leader Lisa Jackson herself: 202-564-4700.

How long are we going to let this go on?

The lead bee researcher for the United States reiterated his position at a luncheon Wednesday: neonicotinoid pesticides like imidacloprid are among the root causes of colony collapse disorder of bees.

Here is our original post on Pettis’ research: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/01/blockbuster-research-usda-scientist-confirms-pesticides-can-kill-bees/.

Here is the link to one of the original articles we posted on this subject more than four years ago: http://www.safelawns.org/articles/2007-09-07-Product_Puts_Beekeepers_Lawn_Growers_at_Odds.cfm.

The SafeLawns Foundation has learned that the United States Department of Agriculture is considering drenching the pesticide known as imidacloprid — widely implicated in the phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder — across hundreds of acres of Greater Boston.

We strongly, emphatically, denounce this proposal and urge all concerned citizens, environmentalists and property owners to make their voices heard.

USDA forestry officials immediately called for a quarantine of the area around Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain last July when an exotic invasive pest known as the Asian longhorn beetle was found in six maple trees on hospital grounds. Though the beetles have not been found elsewhere in the months since, officials believe proactivity is necessary. A public meeting for hospital abutters — including the world famous Arnold Arboretum — is scheduled for Thursday, April 28, at 7 p.m. at the Faulkner Hospital Auditorium.

Imidacloprid, a synthetic nicotine, is known to kill the beetles that are massively destructive to many species of hardwoods. The pesticide, however, has been banned in several nations due to its toxicity to bees.

We do believe that use of imidacloprid may be necessary to combat the Asian longhorn beetle, but only when injected into the trunk of the tree where the pesticide is largely contained within the tree. Soil drenching should be avoided wherever flowering plants are growing that are pollinated by bees or other insects, as these plants may also absorb the insecticide.

“Honey bees and other insects can be affected when systemic insecticides are translocated to nectar and pollen. Imidacloprid is fatal to honey bees when it reaches high enough concentrations, and can have harmful sublethal effects at lower concentrations,” says a statement by three leading university officials, including Jeffrey Hahn, Assistant Extension Entomologist, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota; Daniel A. Herms, Professor, Department of Entomology, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University; Deborah G. McCullough, Professor, Department of Entomology and Department of Forestry, Michigan State University.

Another fact sheet, produced recently by the University of Minnesota, said the leaching potential for imidacloprid is “high” and that the chemical is “highly toxic to aquatic invertebrates and pollinators.” That same fact sheet, still in its draft phase, pointed to the impracticality of soil applications of pesticides due to the excessive amount of product needed to treat a meaningful number of trees in a heavily wooded area.

A SECOND GO-AROUND IN MASSACHUSETTS

This same issue first reared its head in Massachusetts in the late summer of 2009 in the aftermath of a massive infestation of the Asian longhorn beetle in Worcester, Mass. Tens of thousands of infected trees were removed and tens of thousands more were taken for precautionary measures. The result, depicted in the documentary film Bugged, left entire neighborhoods barren.

USDA officials planned to drench several square miles with imidacloprid back then, but swift action by the SafeLawns Foundation, along with the Toxics Action Center and the Pesticide Action Network of North America brought attention to the issue and plans for the soil drenching were shelved.

Below is a copy of the letter delivered to the USDA in September of 2009; a similar letter will be drafted to the USDA and Boston city officials in the coming week. Additional information about next Friday’s meeting at Faulkner Hospital will be forthcoming.

As a concerned citizens and keen observers of local, regional and national issues of significance to human, animal and environmental health, we hereby denounce the proposed application of imidacloprid to widespread areas of soil in and around Worcester, Massachusetts.

Given this travesty, concerned citizens must make their voices heard and contact their U.S. Senators and Congressional leaders and ask them to force the EPA to ban these synthetic nicotines.

A report out of a major California university today reached the same conclusion: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/jan/28/another-pesticide-link-vanishing-honeybees/

PANNA is asking anyone concerned about this subject to sign a petition demanding that the EPA take clothianidin off the market: http://www.change.org/pesticide_action_network_north_america/petitions/view/pull_bayers_bee-killing_pesticide_now. As of this morning, only 234 people have signed the petition. We can do better than that! Signees thus far have been from all over the world.

Meanwhile, the EPA is engaging in blatant spin control and siding with Bayer, the manufacturer of clothianidin. Here is a cogent review of the situation from Change.org: http://food.change.org/blog/view/epa_defends_approval_of_bayers_bee-killing_pesticide.

http://www.grist.org/article/food-2010-12-10-leaked-documents-show-epa-allowed-bee-toxic-pesticide-/