[NatureNS] comment re Empty Forests

Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 14:07:40 -0300
From: "Stephen R. Shaw" <srshaw@dal.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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oNormal&gt;Hello Lance and others:&lt;o:p&gt;&lt
Thanks, Lance, for the as-usual helpful link.

Reading the paper Lance provided puts the kybosh on any attempt to  
assert a 1-to-1 relationship such as "pesticides were actually  
directly responsible for 'causing colony collapse disorder'", more or  
less the original claim.  Several factors have been identified that  
interact in ways that are not well understood yet. Ominously, these  
may not act in a simple additive manner and such non-linear  
interaction is not tested in approving the pesticides, as the paper  
indicates.

At the same time, the authors identified multiple insecticides,  
fungicides and acaricides (used by the beekeepers themselves to  
control mites) in the pollen collected by bees.  You'd have to be  
sceptic of tobacco executive magnitude not to be alarmed that the bees  
collected pollen containing at least 35 different pesticides in the  
study, some at very high levels.  The implication that some of these  
are important in the interactions underlying CCD is not well  
understood yet, but is highly suggestive.

Now I'm wondering what's in the honey that I've been eating. Does  
anybody monitor pesticide levels in honey, or honey from different  
locations?  The pesticide-loaded pollen came from plants that the bees  
also visited for nectar, so that is presumably loaded with the same  
pesticides, which in turn should end up in the honey.  Are there any  
beekeepers or others on this list who might know about the levels of  
such chemicals in honey?  Is some local NS honey better, by virtue of  
a lower pesticide load?

Steve (Halifax)
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quoting "Laviolette, Lance (EXP)" <lance.laviolette@lmco.com>:

> Hi David and others,
>
> The recent research that Mary was referring to was conducted by  
> University of Maryland researchers. It was just published in PLOS  
> ONE and can be read in full at the following link:
>
> http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0070182
>
> A quote attributed to the study's senior author is telling:
> "We don't think of fungicides as having a negative effect on bees,  
> because they're not designed to kill insects," vanEngelsdorp stated.  
> Current federal regulations limit the use of insecticides during the  
> time periods when pollinating insects are foraging, "but there are  
> no such restrictions on fungicides, so you'll often see fungicide  
> applications going on while bees are foraging on the crop. This  
> finding suggests that we have to reconsider that policy."
>
>
> All the best,
>
> Lance


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