Sunday, February 19, 2012

Help Protect The Honey Bees - Act Now

We have the chance to get one of the neonicotinoid pesticides banned but we must act quickly. It will just take a few moment of your time.
Clothianidin, is produced by the German corporation Bayer CropScience. It is used as a treatment on crop seeds, including corn and canola, and works by expressing itself in the plants' pollen and nectar. These are some of honey bees' favorite sources of food.  No major independent study has verified the safety of this pesticide. However independent studies have shown that neonicotinoid pesticides like clothianidin are highly toxic to honey bees, providing compelling evidence that they should be immediately taken off the market until the E.P.A. can conduct a full and valid scientific review. 

Clothianidin was approved by the EPA in 2010 - but now the EPA is reviewing this approval. The deadline to submit a comment is Tuesday and we need to urge federal administrators to cancel the approval of this dangerous chemical. 


You can use this link to voice your opinion to the EPA. Every voice helps. Just click the "Submit a comment" box in the upper right hand corner to write to them. If you think they may want additional information from you to support what you tell them, include an email, address or phone.

Here is an example of what I wrote to them.
No major independent study has verified the safety of Clothianidin. However independent studies have shown that neonicotinoid pesticides like clothianidin are highly toxic to honey bees, providing compelling evidence that they should be immediately taken off the market until the E.P.A. can conduct a full and valid scientific review. Our honey bee population is dwindling and without them we will loose many of our major food crops. Please take Clothianidin off the market. You can find some of this research at these links below. I can supply additional information if you like. Sharol Tilgner - sharoltilgner@yahoo.com

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0029268

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1603


More information on the honey bees at these links:
Jan 19, 2012
Abstract: Populations of honey bees and other pollinators have declined worldwide in recent years. A variety of stressors have been implicated as potential causes, including agricultural pesticides. Neonicotinoid insecticides ...
Sep 23, 2011
This fantastic Dan Rather report on the honey bees and the damage done to the honey bees by neonicotinoid pesticides can be seen by clicking below on vimeo.com. As we suspected all along current research is continuing ...
Mar 14, 2011
New United Nations Report on Honey Bees. The United Nations just put out a news release on the world-wide decline of our honey bees. On March 10, 2011 the United Nations wrote “The way humanity manages or ...
Mar 02, 2011
Bee Keepers try to keep up with the loss. Each year they loose 30-40% of their hives. This can't keep up. Some of them are going out of business. Who will pollinate our food if not for the honey bees. Although there are other ...

Nov 15, 2010
My bees died this spring. They had been healthy and happy 5 days prior when I had put an essential oil in their hive to kill off mites. Something I do every spring and not something that would harm them. However, 5 days later ...