Bee Die Off-Bayer and Monsanto connection

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Permalink Reply by Liz on July 21, 2008 at 2:19pm

Hi Ericka,

I did a little digging and found the German institute who did the original studies is the Julius Kuehn Institute. JKI is the amalgamation of the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV). These three research centres were merged in January this year and they do research into everything concerning cultivated plants.

Their website has the original publications concerning the bee die offs (but it's in German). There is in fact a direct correlation between the use of an insecticide coating for corn seed produced by is produced by Monheim, Germany-based Bayer CropScience.

http://www.jki.bund.de/nn_813794/SiteGlobals/Forms/Suche/serviceSuc...

"It can unequivocally be concluded that a poisoning of the bees is due to the rub-off of the pesticide ingredient clothianidin from corn seeds," notes a press release from the Julius Kuehn Institute (JKI), the German federal agricultural research agency. Beekeepers in the region started finding piles of dead bees at the entrance of hives in early May, right around the time corn seeding takes place," says Walter Haefeker, president of the European Professional Beekeepers Association.

They believe the pesticide meant for the Western Corn Rootworm became airborn when the Corn seeds were planted (corn seeds are planted on these farms by shooting them into the soil – literally, they shoot seeds from heavy machinery and this caused the pesticide to become airborn).

Statement from Bayer states, “We are saddened by the loss of the bees, Bayer CropScience is keen to establish a certification system in cooperation with seed companies, in order to avoid incorrect use of seed treatment products in the future. At the same time, the company is working with manufacturers of pneumatic corn-sowing equipment to develop ways of avoiding the drift of product particles during sowing."

There you have it. The problem will be solved by better guns to shoot the seeds, not the banning the toxic pesticide. Afterall, how does that saying go, “Guns don’t kill people…”

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Permalink Reply by Ericka Cero Wood on August 27, 2008 at 9:03am

Thanks for researching some more on this subject. It amazes me how the solution is "you're using it wrong!" when common sense tells us that the poison is the issue.

Because we are the top of the food chain, everything we do will eventually come back to us. Neuro-toxins killing bugs will eventually make it to our brains too. The bright spot in this conversation is people are starting to wake up and change.

SAVE THE BEES!
Ericka:)

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Permalink Reply by Ericka Cero Wood on September 7, 2008 at 1:23pm

August 18 - The Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit today to uncover critical information that the US government is withholding about the risks posed by pesticides to honey bees.
See this story:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14192.cfm

The USDA claims that "one out of every three mouthfuls of food in the typical American diet has a connection to bee pollination." Something to think about as you eat...

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