imafan26
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Neonicotinoids kiling bees?

I think everybody knows now that the bees are in trouble. No one really knows the cause of colony collapse disorder and it may actually not be just one thing but a combination of things that are affecting the bees. Loss of habitat, pesticide use and the main culprit of those are humans.

"Neonicotinoids were touted orgininally to replace the more toxic chemicals like diazinon, dursban that have been taken off the market for homeowner use because of their toxicity to non target organisms. Neonicotinoids are a new class of insecticides chemically related to nicotine. The name literally means “new nicotine-like insecticides”. Like nicotine, the neonicotinoids act on certain kinds of receptors in the nerve synapse. They are much more toxic to invertebrates, like insects, than they are to mammals, birds and other higher organisms. It made them safer for humans to use than the older insecticides.
To find out whether an insecticide you see on the shelf of your hardware, pest control supply or garden center is a neonicotinoid, look on the list of active ingredients. If you see one of the following names listed, the insecticide includes a neonicotinoid:

Acetamiprid
Clothianidin
Dinotefuran
Imidacloprid
Nitenpyram
Thiocloprid
Thiamethoxam

One thing that has made neonicotinoid insecticides popular in pest control is their water solubility, which allows them to be applied to soil and be taken up by plants. Soil insecticide applications reduce the risks for insecticide drift from the target site, and for at least some beneficial insects on plants. However, soil applications can drift onto nearby plants and the residues can persist in woody plants for up to a year."
https://citybugs.tamu.edu/factsheets/ip ... icotinoid/

"Neonicotinoids, like most insecticides, will cause significant harm if pollinators come directly into contact with them. This exposure generally occurs when a neonicotinoid is misused and sprayed on a blooming plant or one that will bloom soon, or when bees are exposed to dust of seed-coatings at planting time. However, researchers have found seed-coat treatments
to canola seed can be harmful to native bees feeding on canola flowers in fields planted with treated seed. Bees and other pollinators can also collect contaminated pollen or nectar from the treated plants and bring it back to their colony, creating high risk of harm to the colony. Research studies have demonstrated native and honey bees can be harmed by small amounts of pesticides in nectar and pollen. When a neonicotinoid is applied as a soil drench (a dilute solution poured around the plant base), it may persist for a year or more, especially in woody plants, and can also move into weeds or flowers growing over the
drenched soil. If some of the insecticide moves into pollen or nectar it may not kill bees directly, but it can act as a stressor to affect larval growth, susceptibilityto diseases, navigation or winter survival."

"Most researchers agree that a combination of factors is causing declines in bee and pollinator populations, including parasites, pathogens, loss of habitat or flowers that provide pollen and nectar, and pesticide exposure. Each of these has been found to negatively affect bees, but there is also evidence the combination of stresses is especially harmful. Bees and other pollinators depend on flowers for food – nectar provides carbohydrates, while pollen is their source of protein. Flowerless landscapes like mowed lawns with strict weed control, heavily paved areas of cities and fields with no plant diversity contain little food for
bees which leads to poor nutrition and compromised mmune systems. Nutritionally weakened bees are more susceptible to disease and pesticides. Many pests and pathogens also affect bees. The Varroa mite, a parasite of honey bees, is one of the
most destructive factors causing honey bee decline. Other parasites and pathogens may become a more serious problem in hives weakened by Varroa mite. In some cases, the flowers that bees forage on have pesticide residue on the petals or in the nectar and pollen. These chemicals can kill bees directly or cause a variety of sublethal effects such as impairing their ability to find their hive or provide food for their larvae. The toxicity of pesticides for bees ranges from highly toxic to relatively safe, depending on the specific chemical and the exposure, although long-termexposure to low doses has not been investigated for
many types of pesticides. In some cases the impacts are worse when pollinators are exposed to combinations of pesticides. Since bees forage through a wide range of landscapes, they may be exposed to a complex mixture of many different chemicals."
https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/neoni ... LowRes.pdf

Most commercial bees are kept in rural areas but there is a growing interest in urban beekeeping. Bees can forage for up to 3 miles from the hive. In cities there is more concrete and monoculture grass than flowers. Homeowners use of chemicals they don't really understand because they just want something that "works" compounds the problem for the bees. Pesticide residues can be carried back to the hive in contaminated pollen or nectar and that ultimately weakens the hives.

More people are using IPM and natural insecticides. Nicotine is actually allowed as an organic pesticide and tobacco residue has been used for years by gardeners as a 'natural pesticide' even though it is toxic to humans as well.

Nicotine Sulfate

Nicotine is extracted from tobacco or related Nicotiana species and is one of the oldest botanical insecticides in use today. It's also one of the most toxic to warm-blooded animals and it's readily absorbed through the skin. (Wear gloves when applying it, follow label directions and keep pets away from application areas.) It breaks down quickly, however, so it is legally acceptable to use on organically grown crops. Nicotininoids are chemically similar to nicotine and both are highly toxic. Pure nicotine dissipates faster but is more harmful to warm blooded animals than the synthetic nicotinoids.

"Nicotine sulfate is sold as a 40 percent nicotine sulfate concentrate under trade names that include Black Leaf 40 or Tender Leaf Plant Insect spray. Nicotine kills insects by interfering with the transmitter substance between nerves and muscles. It's commonly used to control aphids, thrips, spider mites and other sucking insecticides on most vegetables, some fruits, flowering plants and ornamental shrubs and trees. Roses are sensitive to nicotine. Choose alternate pest control measures when treating insects on roses.
Nicotine sulfate has a DANGER warning".
https://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4 ... rganic.htm

https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/neoni ... zabout.pdf
https://www.xerces.org/neonicotinoids-and-bees/
https://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews ... /bees.html

Managed hives fare better than wild colonies. People tend to try to kill bees that try to nest near their homes. Well managed hives are treated for hive beetles and varoa mites. Beekeepers large and small still have the problem of not being able to control what people and industries are spraying on their plants and fields that the bees forage in. Large areas of monoculture like commercial orchards and farms do not provide a balanced diet for the bees and that lack of diversity can make them weaker. Human habitation means usually monoculture grass and a lot of concrete and asphalt in place of fields of wildflowers. Then there are the professional pesticide applicators and homeowners who are using pesticides on their lawns and gardens to control weeds, pests and diseases. The bees have to navigate through all these hazards every day in their short lifespan.

People are the real culprit in the decline of bees and other species, but people are not going to go away anytime soon. So, what is a body to do. First, don't spray if you don't have to. If you do, don't spray when plants are in flower or bud and do not let plants that have been sprayed bloom until the residues are gone. Use hand methods, beneficial insects, and select resistant plants. If you have to spray try to stay away from systemic insecticides. It means you will have to spray and examine plants more often with contact sprays. Plant a variety of nectar and pollen plants to attract beneficial insects and provide habitat for beneficial insects and animals.
Remember that all pesticides are toxic. Natural pesticides can be very toxic to non-target organisms and are not always the best alternative. Although natural pesticides come from organic sources it does not make them any less lethal. They are usually short acting but have to be applied more often increasing the risk of exposure to the humans applying them.
https://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4 ... ticid2.htm
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 175510.htm
https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~lhom/organictext.html

pepperhead212
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A recent attack on bees is all of that spraying for the zika virus in the SE.
https://gizmodo.com/south-carolina-just- ... 1786042200
While sort of restricted now, it will spread, for sure, since every time we see a map, showing the spread of the mosquito carrying the virus, it is more widespread than the last time. And when they tell everyone about how "non-toxic" that spray is, I want to know why everybody spraying those clouds of spray are wearing gas masks?

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jal_ut
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Here usually in June the farmers may spray the alfalfa fields to get rid of weevil. If they happen to spray when the fields are in bloom, the bees will die. I have seen my whole field force wiped out. Go out and look at the hives and there are 20,000 dead bees in front of each hive. Generally the hive does not die, but if you kill the field force there goes your honey crop, because these are the bees that gather the nectar to make honey.

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rainbowgardener
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I think a lot of people are convinced that neonicotinoids are largely responsible for the declining honeybee populations. It's why more and more countries/ locations are banning them. Personally, I believe while they important, what is really going on is a big combination of attacks. When they analyze bee hives in agricultural areas, they usually find something like thirty different herbicide/ pesticide residues in them! We don't really know very much about what any one of them does in field conditions; most of the testing of these poisons is done in the laboratory. And we know NOTHING about all the additive/multiplicative interactive effects of a poison stew like that.

A lot of the damage is done by diseases and mites/ pests/ parasites. But those have always been around. The reason why they are so much more deadly these days is that the bees are stressed/ weakened/ with impaired immune systems from all the chemical assaults. The mites and diseases are spreading to new locations due to global warming (and the practice of sending thousands of hives in trucks for the bloom season of various fruit and nut trees, bringing their pests and diseases with them). Very cold and very warm winters can also be a stress on bees/ hives. In extra warm winters, the bees stay more active, use up more of their winter food supply and emerge early, when the flowers they rely on aren't blooming yet.

And of course habitat loss and other factors are in play as well.

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 11&t=57653

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jal_ut
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Beekeepers who care, will be treating their bees for disease, mites, and other pests. In winter they will install entrance blocks to exclude mice. They will feed their bees if their stores get low, but there is nothing they can do about the bees getting into poisons some idiot put out!!!

The bees will come out and fly any day the temperature gets above 50 degrees F. They will come out for a cleansing flight if nothing more. If there happens to be blooms then they will forage. They will not fly if it is cooler than 50 degs F.

Even if all the proper things are in place for the wintering hive, they are likely to die anyway.

In this cold country it is customary to keep bees in a double deep hive. Going into winter the one hive should be full of honey. This is 60 pounds of honey to winter the bees. With honey selling for $6 a pound that is $360 for the honey. You can buy a package of bees for $90 in the spring. Now tell me who wants to winter bees?

Those beekeepers who have enough to be worth taking them to California for winter will have them built up strong in March and will shake off packages. They will make money on the package then come to higher elevations and make money on honey during summer.

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applestar
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Study shows common insecticide is harmful in any amount

Study shows common insecticide is harmful in any amount
by Jules Bernstein , University of California - Riverside

2 August 2021

A new UC Riverside study shows that a type of insecticide made for commercial plant nurseries is harmful to a typical bee even when applied well below the label rate.

The study was published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Chemically similar to nicotine, neonicotinoids are insecticides that protect against plant-consuming insects like aphids, but seriously harm beneficial insects, like bees.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

There is no doubt that there are many factors contributing to the demise of many species. Bees are sentinels of what is to come. If people continue to pollute their environment with chemicals, carbon emissions, and pesticides, somewhere down the line it will also be our doom.

On the bright side. People are trying to be more earth friendly and use organic growing methods and less toxic chemicals. The general public still does not understand what organic really means and that even organic pesticides like rotenone, pyrethrins, nicotine, even neem are still toxic. And unfortunately they are still quick to look for insecticides to zap every bug in site. Although they are looking for organic pesticides more than synthetic. They would be better off educated to improve their culture to grow healthy resilient plants and habitat to invite natural predators instead. For most pest control I use the universal solvent...water. I only treat when I have to and I do actually use Merit when I have to.

The bees are making a comeback in my area. I have bees visiting everyday in my front nectar and pollen garden. They are not as thick as they were prior to 2011, but they buzzed me yesterday when I was watering. They must have an aggressive queen. Usually, they just move away when I water. The managed hives are growing and swarms escape and become feral. The feral hives still have to deal with the varoa mites and hive beetles and ultimately the managed hives will sustain them. Our native bees are not so lucky. They are on the endangered list now. The yellow faced bee used to forage with our Carolinian bees in 2011 before varoa mites and hive beetles got introduced somehow. Now, I never see them.

Monarchs were never endangered here. Our monarch butterflies do not migrate but because people hear about the plight of the monarchs in the mainland, people are always asking for crown flowers (giant milkweed) so they can grow food for the larvae. I actually have to discourage them from coming to my yard because I want them to stay away from the kale.



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