Honey Bee Increased Mortality Linked to Common Crop Chemical
For over 10 years there has been an observation of colony loss amongst the bee populations in the United States.
This has long been recognized as an issue due to honey bees being highly valued for their beneficial pollination service in agriculture.
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Sylgard 309 is an organosilicone surfactant adjuvant (OSS) that is commonly used to boost the performance of pesticides. This chemicals thought to be safe and is used by the billions of pounds each year in the US. They are an important component to the chemical landscape bees are exposed to. The EPA has classified organosilicone adjuvants as biologically inert which means they don't cause a reaction in living things so they have no federally restricted use.
A new study published by Scientific Reports today January 16, has confirmed that Sylgard 309 "negatively impacts the health of honey bee larvae by increasing their susceptibility to a common bee pathogen, the Black Queen Cell Virus".
Beekeepers reported missing, dead and dying broods in their hives following an almond pollination that was exposed to pesticides mixed with organosilicone adjuvan.
"Organosilicone adjuvants are the most potent adjuvants available to growers," said Julia Fine, graduate student in entomology, Penn State.
The study used 4 different types of groups. One was a control group (Ctrl), another group was only exposed to the Sylgard 309 (OSS), the third group only the Black Queen Cell Virus (Ctrl+V), while the last group had both the adjuvant and the virus (OSS+V).
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Not only did the bees exposed to both the adjuvant and the virus have higher levels of the virus, but the effect of mortality was synergistic rather than additive. This means that adding the second (OSS) and third (Ctrl+V) groups mortality rates together is still smaller than the mortality rates of the fourth group which had the combination of the two components (adjuvant and virus, OSS+V).
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The conclusion is that Sylgard 309 enhances the damaging effect of the virus. This has been demonstrated in the study which verifies the observations in agriculture that the bees have the "colony collapse disorder" soon after pollination occurs in fields that have the adjuvant added to the pesticides.
This is good news. We've identified a cause in the increase of mortality in bees over the past 10 years (at least). I remember in 2006 when I first got into looking more into what is going on in reality, the bee dying issue was starting to become known back then. And it has persisted since then. I hope this information is enough to empower change in our behavior towards other animals, like the bees we depend on for our own survival.
References:
- Common crop chemical leaves bees susceptible to deadly viruses
- An Inert Pesticide Adjuvant Synergizes Viral Pathogenicity and Mortality in Honey Bee Larvae
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@krnel
2017-01-16, 8:01pm
I consider this to be pseudo-scientific propaganda, funded by Monsanto. It is not some natural chemical killing the bees, but their pesticides. Worse than that, any bees that have shown resistance to roundup and have managed to survive, have been seized by authorities and the queens have been killed.
Why this is happening, I do not know. But in viewing Monsanto's other actions, it is clear that their agenda is complete and absolute control over the world's food supply.
Just theorizing now, but perhaps it is something to do with dispersion. I know that bees are responsible for a lot of pollen distribution, so they are a vital component in the natural reproductive cycle of plants, including vegetables and crops of other types.
With no bees, perhaps it would become impossible for the random civilian or the family farmer to grow their own organic food. The only way to reproduce your crops would be through unnatural means, something that Monsanto are happy to do, and have done with their GMO's.
If only they possess the necessary tools to create more crops, then they will have a complete monopoly on the world's food supply and more power than one could imagine.
It's been a while since I studied this type of thing, so I'm not certain of anything I just said in regards to crops and bees, that was just a quick theory my mind presented to me.
I am however adamant that it is Monsanto behind the reduction of the bee population, and I know that this is exactly the sort of news on a scientific study that corporations fabricate to take attention away from their crimes.
Paid study is my verdict.
I have still given you an upvote because I like posts that get my brain burning calories.
Even the supposedly benign chemicals have an accumulative effect in bees. They might be fine with one exposure, and last a while. But they begin losing their sense of direction and ability to communicative functions. Their resilience to disease is being harmed as well, both by the chemicals and the death of mycelium in the soil itself. Paul Stemens has shown that bees that consume mycelium (which grows naturally in healthy soil) are resistant to the mites that carry diseases as well as the diseases themselves. Of course, mycelium cannot grow where herbicides are used, adding to the bees' destruction. It's a myopic spiral. Fortunately some countries are recognizing Monsanto, Du Pont and others for what they are and kicking them out of their countries.
I agree, pesticides, and Monsanto, Du Pont and many others do great harm to us while we turn a blind eye because they supply us with cheap food. Chaos will teach us eventually as we get sicker and lose the bees and butterflies that help us survive. Thanks for the feedback.
I hope that you mean Du Pont, otherwise I may need to do some research right now, as I haven't the slightest inclination as to what dew point is.
No need for thanks, I am a fan of a great deal of what you share on here, so my upvote(insignificant as it is) is merely my way of thanking you.
Keep the content coming, and perhaps one day not too long from now I will have a vote that weighs enough to effect your payout. lol.
Yeah typo dyslexia I dunno both, Dew Point => Du Pont. LOL.
I googled Dew Point and it is a scientific term to do with water in the atmosphere. Given the type of things you post, I would wager that you frequent sites that publish scientific studies and other information-based resources, so you have probably come across this term before.
Because Du Pont sounds likes Dew Point, while typing quickly, your mind probably mixed the two up. This is something I do very often and so, you shall receive no judgement from me for the error.
Nice and sweet, great data and chart are straight forward. thanks for the discussion that needs to take ampler as time goes forward. As you underline, we used to be in the dark in relation to the mortality rate of our precious bees and now that we know a bit more about the situation, it is imperative for us to share the knowledge and empower both the bees and ourselves humans.
All for one and one for all! Namaste :)
The loss of the honey bees is really something we should be afraid of. Their role is so important... It is good to have identified one cause of their death. But one out of many? Let's cross fingers for the future.
Now this is a good study and research, I would love to know more.
I used to raise bees and they were a lot of fun to be around.
@Timbo
Well this is a bummer. I wonder what the mechanism is between the virus and the organosilicone.
I did appreciate this because I want to 'bee a bee keeper' (pun intended). You identified the problem. What's the solution?
Stop using OSS.
I don't us them. To be more clear, how do we stop them?
So the real solution here is drones and Lasers!
What we need is drones that either fly or drive through fields and laser the unwanted insects. This was demonstrated a few years ago -they killed mosquitoes with lasers- they could even identify the sex of the mosquito by the wingbeat of the insects. This sounds crazy, but what we need is a wheeled drone -I am sort of thinking something like an overgrown lawn mower on stilts. Something maybe 10 feet high -so it can get above crops- but relatively lightweight by farm equipment standards -maybe 300 pounds. That can drive through the fields. This could be solar powered and armed with a small laser. This would slowly work through the field, cameras would ID bugs and weeds. If it is bad it could be zapped. Then we would not need to spray fields with pesticides or herbicides. Special mirrors or even large magnifying glasses could zap both unwanted plants and bugs. A small drill like arm could till the soil (upsetting small weeds). I suspect one would need to primarily use this in the morning as dew would reduce fire hazards. (If it is dry). A small lawn mower like engine could produce power at night (if a bug outbreak needs stopping). These should be made cheap enough that each field can have one. There is no reason these could not also -with some minor variations- plant the field. The beauty is it would stop the insects and it would stop the weeds. We could get rid of both pesticides and herbicides saving farmers money and paying for the equipment.
Thank you.
This might be the most important "climate change" there is
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