Remember to keep it civil...

[Zweefer]

Research shows there is little risk to pollinators from neonicotinoids, including one of its class, the commonly used imidacloprids...

http://www.beeculture.com/catch-the-buzz-little-risk-to-bees-from-widely-used-insecticide-reports-expert-from-the-university-of-arkansas/

[neillsayers]

Good article and their case is well stated. Doesn't seem as though sub-lethal dosage is of any concern to them and this is the issue beekeepers have brought up.

[Perry]

The only known pesticide kill I had:

[LazyBkpr]

Wow really?

    For those who do not know..  Clothianidin is an insecticide developed by Takeda Chemical Industries and Bayer AG. Similar to thiamethoxam and imidacloprid, it is a neonicotinoid.

   may7 I ask if the comb in those hives had been rotated out Perry?
   NOT, that i am managing to keep all of mine rotated now that I have so many hives, but that brings another major concern that I may start losing bees if I do not step it up.

   Questions;
   The sample was done near the end of June, long after planting and well before the bees could get pollen from crops?
   Do you have any speculation on what it came from?
  It killed an entire hive?
   More than one hive?

   I have long argued that neonics are WAY better than what we used to use, but do admit they leave a lot to be desired. Most of what I read about the harmful effects were attributed to a combination of neonics, fungicides and herbicides that had slowly accumulated in the wax/comb to create a lethal cocktail over time.
     Apparently you have with proof in hand, so I am a lot more skeptical now than I have been.


    Disclaimer;
   I am not employed by Monsanto, Bayer etc...   

[riverbee]

comb rotation, yes scott; was my first thought on this article

"Most of what I read about the harmful effects were attributed to a combination of neonics, fungicides and herbicides that had slowly accumulated in the wax/comb to create a lethal cocktail over time."

...........

and thanks perry for sharing that report.

[Perry]

This resulted from a call I got from one of my outyards. I was told a swarm had landed on the ground about 50 feet in front of a row of 8 hives I have there. When I pulled up there was a large mound of bees dying on the ground. Most were already dead and only a few still crawling around. I scooped up some bees and took them to PMRA Pesticide Regulatory Management Association, and the report I got back was from them. Cliothianidin is typically associated with corn crops.
I believe the bees from this hive were exposed to it in some fashion and chose to abandon the hive and not contaminate it.

[LazyBkpr]

wow.... if thats what happened, it was a sudden dose of it. That was not a die out over time with loss of brood etc...  did someone use that stuff in a garden maybe? 

[Zweefer]

Not knowing any facts. I would say off label usage for sure

[Perry]

One will never know unfortunately. Corn fields are within easy reach of this yard, certainly within a mile or so. I guess I'm lucky it was just the one.

[LazyBkpr]

I have corn all around my hives too Perry. Every hive I own is within a few feet to 1/4 mile of MASSIVE cornfields.   I watch closely in the spring during planting because according to those who yell the loudest about Neonics.. this is when we lose the bees suddenly because of the "bloom" produced by the dust created from the coated seed during planting.  I have never lost a hive "suddenly" like you did, but do not rule out the possibility.




  The time of year you lost your bees seems to preclude planting bloom, and is yet too early for the bees to have been gathering pollen from the treated corn. I am certain in hard years my bees gather that pollen, and yet it has not killed any of the hives suddenly. Which leads me to believe that they found another source. Someone dumped out something they had stored etc..  It is annoying not knowing what happened, and that only adds to the pain of losing a hive in such a fashion.

   How much did it cost to have the test done, and where did you send the bees? Did you send them on Ice etc?   It might be a good idea to do a thread on having bees tested so we will all know how to do it if the need arises!
   Hopefully you will have a bumper honey crop this year!
   Scott

[Perry]

I gathered up a few dozen bees, mostly dead and a few dying. They weren't sure I had provided enough bees to sample but I guess there was. I have a ag. research center in the next town so I delivered them there and they put them on ice to be shipped (not sure where). It took a while to get my answer. It's free here.

[tecumseh]

a snip...
'Data show that citrus and cotton may have residues of the pesticide in pollen and nectar above the threshold level, the report concluded.

Additional data is being generated on these and other crops to help evaluate whether imidacloprid poses a risk to hives, the EPA said.

So, it seems, the jury is still out on this class of compounds.'

my comments..
seems like this article is not that clear and pure reason like that used by the professor from Arkansas should not be taken to means these products get a clean bill of health.  evidently he seem to have forgotten that these compounds are moved around by water and it may make absolutely no difference whether there is or is not any compound left in the plant by the time it blooms.

a lazybkpr snip..
 I have long argued that neonics are WAY better than what we used to use, but do admit they leave a lot to be desired. Most of what I read about the harmful effects were attributed to a combination of neonics, fungicides and herbicides that had slowly accumulated in the wax/comb to create a lethal cocktail over time.
     Apparently you have with proof in hand, so I am a lot more skeptical now than I have been.


    Disclaimer;
   I am not employed by Monsanto, Bayer etc..

my comments..
anything that reduces application of insecticides by airplane is like a plus.  this does not mean products like the above are neutral in there impact on the honeybees.  as to your last statement well sometimes some of us do stuff for money but this does not necessarily mean we look at all product manufactured by any given corporate entity as all positive or all negative.

'just another misinformed non treatment beekeeper'