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On 6/26/2014 6:03 PM, David & Alison Webster wrote:
> For insect biodiversity, and perhaps much else, this will likely
> trump the combined effects of all other environmental degradations.
* and just when the list was rejoicing in the recovery of Ospreys after
the banning of DDT.
I imagine I could find a longterm decline in the big moths and Junebugs
in our doing-the-streets data, though these are messed up by the way the
municipality only replaces burned out streetlamps at a haphazard schedule.
fred.
=======================================================
>
> Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bev Wigney" <bkwigney@gmail.com>
> To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
> Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2014 2:25 PM
> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Neonicatinoids & Fibronil
>
>
>> For further reading, I have linked to a paper stored as a .pdf on the
>> Ontario Beekeepers' Association website (see link below).
>>
>> Speaking for myself, I find much of the information in this document
>> to be very troubling. For one, the discussion of half-life in soil
>> certainly raises a red flag as far as I'm concerned. See page 3.
>> "For the most commonly used seed treatments, reported half-lives in
>> soil typically range from 200 to in excess of 1000 days." There is
>> more about the residue getting into groundwater and watersheds.
>>
>> I do wonder about all of this - not just with regard to bees, but
>> other insects as well. This will be my fifth summer at my place
>> outside Annapolis Royal. I have been putting out moth lights at night
>> each summer. The first two summers here (2010 and 2011), I was quite
>> thrilled by the moths coming to the lamps. Unfortunately, things have
>> gone downhill since then. Last summer, I tried putting up different
>> lights and it made no great improvement. Now I am at the point of
>> barely feeling it worthwhile to bother anymore. I have puzzled over
>> what is going on - if there was some kind of forestry spraying taking
>> place that I was unaware of. More recently, I've considered
>> neonicotinoids, but dismissed them as I did not think they would be in
>> use nearby. However, upon more consideration, I realize that there
>> are very large corn fields at probably well less than 500 meters
>> distance as the bee flies. After reading the linked document, I'm
>> thinking that is actually pretty close.
>>
>> Anyhow, here is the link to which I am referring:
>>
>> Journal of Applied Ecology 2013, 50, 977–987
>> Review
>> An overview of the environmental risks posedby neonicotinoid insecticides
>> Dave Goulson
>> Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling,
>> Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
>>
>> http://www.ontariobee.com/sites/ontariobee.com/files/Goulson's_review_June_2013_J_appl_Ecol.pdf
>>
>>
>> On 6/26/14, David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com> wrote:
>>> Dear All,
>>> Questions about Neonicatinoids & Fibronil came up recently just
>>> before I
>>> became aware of recent reports.
>>>
>>> http://www.environmentalleader.com/2014/06/25/clear-evidence-neonicotinoids-a-key-factor-in-bee-decline/
>>>
>>>
>>> When there is this much smoke there must be some fire. The
>>> practice of
>>> coating seeds with a systemic insecticide, that so I understand
>>> renders all
>>> tissue of that plant toxic to insects, is in itself sufficient to set
>>> off my
>>> alarm bells.
>>>
>>> The above coupled with-
>>> http://qz.com/107970/scientists-discover-whats-killing-the-bees-and-its-worse-than-you-thought/
>>>
>>>
>>> show that use of pesticides should be governed by restraint.
>>>
>>> As an aside, much of the pioneering research in Biological
>>> Control (AKA
>>> Integrated Pest Control) was carried out at Kentville largely with the
>>> objective, on principle, of using the least practicable quantity of
>>> pesticide.
>>>
>>> Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
>>
>>
>> -----
>> No virus found in this message.
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>>
>
--
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Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
Daily Paintings - http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/
Vulnerable Watersheds - http://vulnerablewaters.blogspot.ca/
study our books - http://pinicola.ca/books/index.htm
RR#2 Bishops Mills, Ontario, Canada K0G 1T0
on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44* 52'N 75* 42'W
(613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca> http://pinicola.ca/
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