Wiki-Bee Leaks: EPA Document Shows it knowingly allowed pesticide that Kills Honey Bees

The world honey bee population has plunged in recent years, worrying beekeepers and farmers who know how critical bee pollination is for many crops. A number of theories have popped up as to why the North American honey bee population has declined--electromagnetic radiation, malnutrition, and climate change have all been pinpointed. Now a leaked EPA document reveals that the agency allowed the widespread use of a bee-toxic pesticide, despite warnings from EPA scientists.

The document, which was leaked to a Colorado beekeeper, shows that the EPA has ignored warnings about the use of clothianidin, a pesticide produced by Bayer that mainly is used to pre-treat corn seeds. The pesticide scooped up $262 million in sales in 2009 by farmers, who also use the substance on canola, soy, sugar beets, sunflowers, and wheat, according to Grist.

The leaked document (PDF) was put out in response to Bayer's request to approve use of the pesticide on cotton and mustard. The document invalidates a prior Bayer study that justified the registration of clothianidin on the basis of its safety to honeybees:

Clothianidin’s major risk concern is to nontarget insects (that is, honey bees). Clothianidin is a neonicotinoid insecticide that is both persistent and systemic. Acute toxicity studies to honey bees show that clothianidin is highly toxic on both a contact and an oral basis. Although EFED does not conduct RQ based risk assessments on non-target insects, information from standard tests and field studies, as well as incident reports involving other neonicotinoids insecticides (e.g., imidacloprid) suggest the potential for long-term toxic risk to honey bees and other beneficial insects.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1708896/wiki-bee-leaks-epa-document-reveals-agency-knowingly-allowed-use-of-bee-toxic-pesticide

www.panna.org

Bump. This news is gaining momentum. You were quick with this one Carol.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/leaked-document-epa-knowingly-approved-bee-killing-pesticide.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/030921_EPA_pesticides.html

The PDF:
http://www.panna.org/sites/default/files/Memo_Nov2010_Clothianidin.pdf

February 12, 2011 - TORONTO – A Toronto museum is investigating the sudden death of thousands of bees in a glass-enclosed beehive exhibit. Officials at the Royal Ontario Museum said 20,000 bees in a biodiversity exhibit had died within two days last week, though they had appeared healthy. Scientists have ruled out staff error and starvation, but said poor ventilation, disease or a lack of worker bees could be to blame. The museum plans to replace the colony in the spring. “The queen stops laying eggs in early- to mid-October and starts laying again in late February,” University of Guelph researcher Janine McGowan told the Toronto Star newspaper. “If she didn’t lay enough winter worker bee eggs to make sure the hive and honey is kept warm during the winter, that could have contributed to the die-off.” The bees were part of the biodiversity exhibit at the ROM. They were viewed through a special glass hive and staff say there was no sign that anything was wrong. The bees, they say, were perfectly healthy until late last week. Then, within two days, they were all dead.” -BBC

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2011/02/12/sudden-death-of-20000-bees-in-toronto-exhibit-dismays-experts/

http://wakeup-world.com/2012/05/26/illinois-illegally-seizes-bees-resistant-to-roundup-kills-remaining-queens/

26th May 2012

By Geobear - foodfreedomgroup.com

The Illinois Ag Dept. illegally seized privately owned bees from renowned naturalist, Terrence Ingram, without providing him with a search warrant and before the court hearing on the matter, reports Prairie Advocate News.

Behind the obvious violations of his Constitutional rights is Monsanto. Ingram was researching Roundup’s effects on bees, which he’s raised for 58 years. “They ruined 15 years of my research,” he told Prairie Advocate, by stealing most of his stock.

A certified letter from the Ag Dept.’s Apiary Inspection Supervisor, Steven D. Chard, stated:

“During a routine inspection of your honeybee colonies by … Inspectors Susan Kivikko and Eleanor Balson on October 23, 2011, the bacterial disease ‘American Foulbrood’ was detected in a number of colonies located behind your house…. Presence of the disease in some of your colonies was confirmed via test results from the USDA Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland that analyzed samples collected from your apiary….”

Ingram can prove his bees did not have foulbrood, and planned to do so at a hearing set in April, but the state seized his bees at the end of March. They have not returned them and no one at the Ag Dept. seems to know where his bees are.
The bees could have been destroyed, or they could have been turned over to Monsanto to ascertain why some of his bees are resistant to Roundup. Without the bees as evidence, Ingram simply cannot defend against the phony charges of foulbrood.

Worse, all his queens died after Kivikko and Balson “inspected” his property, outside of his presence and without a warrant.

Of note, Illinois beekeepers are going underground after Ingram’s experience and refuse to register their hives, in case the state tries to steal their private property on phony claims.