By Shermakaye Bass
In light of recent European bans of a pesticide linked to Bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), at least one key be
e expert is calling for a ban of the same pesticide in the United States.
“In the United States, drastic action is needed,” says Canadian geneticist Joe Cummins, explaining that U.S. farmers and beekeepers shouldn’t have to wait for more evidence or for an air-tight explanation for the complex syndrome, which threatens one in every third bite of food in the United States. Now most apiarists and scientists realize that pesticides are a factor in CCD, he says.
Cummins’ remarks, in an interview with GreenRightNow, come less than a month after Germany’s ban of clothianidin, a pesticide commonly used to keep insects off of corn crops. Germany banned the pesticide after heaps of dead bees were found near fields of corn coated in the pesticide, and in response to scientists who report that the insecticide severely impairs, and often kills, the honeybees that corn and other crops depend on for pollination.
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February 19th, 2008
By Shermakaye Bass
Haagen-Dazs says it “hearts” honeybees. To underscore this claim, the all-natural ice
creamery is putting its money where its mouth is – donating $250,000 worth in cash to the cause and pouring much more into advertising and promotions designed to aid the humble worker.
As American apiarists monitor their hives this winter for signs of Colony Collapse Disorder and many others watch helplessly as the syndrome decimates their beeyards, the General Mills giant has made a move to help. On Monday (Feb. 18), it announced the launch of “Haagen-Dazs Loves Honey Bees,” a multi-prong campaign to fund research and increase public awareness of the mysterious syndrome that has gutted at least 25 percent of America’s prime pollinators over the past few years.
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Related Topics: · Bees, Haagen-Dazs, Pollination
February 11th, 2008
Photo: Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium
Worker bees
By Shermakaye Bass
A year and a half ago, news of a mysterious phenomenon captured the country’s attention – something known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that was affecting up to 30 percent of America’s commercial honeybee producers, whose mobile apiaries pollinate one-third of the country’s food supply.
For months, the international media carried reports on CCD (essentially a disappearing act by America’s worker honeybees), projecting repercussions that would drive produce and dairy prices through the roof and eventually cause large-scale food shortages in the U.S.
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Related Topics: · Bee Colony Collapse Disorder, Beekeepers, Bees, pesticides, pollinators
