Leaked EPA Memos May Explain Massive Bee Die-Off

by Anne Landman — January 3, 2011 - 3:28pm
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HoneybeeCMD's guest blogger, Jill Richardson, has done some ground-breaking reporting on the potential cause of the massive bee die-off.  According to Jill's investigation, leaked U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) memos reveal that the agency gave conditional approval to pesticides now in wide use, without requiring adequate proof that they are safe to use around honeybees. In the wake of the new information, beekeepers are starting to blame the country's massive die-off of honeybees on the pesticides. A leaked EPA memo dated November 2, 2010, discusses Bayer CropScience's efforts to legalize use of its pesticide clothianidin on mustard seed and cotton crops. EPA gave conditional approval for the chemical in 2003 and let Bayer start selling it, but told the company that they needed to complete further safety testing by a certain deadline to get full approval. The  additional testing was to assure the chemical was safe to use around honeybees. Bayer failed to do the testing for years, and instead sought and received an extension of the conditional permit to use the chemical. When Bayer finally performed the study, they did it in another country, and on crops that aren't grown much in the U.S. Bayer also used bees that were located on a small patch of treated crops surrounded by thousands of acres on untreated crops -- a design that handed Bayer the result it wanted by making the chemical appear safe to use. EPA deemed the defective study acceptable and gave full registration to clothianidin in 2007. In November, 2010, when Bayer asked to extend use of the pesticide to more types of crops, EPA still did not comment on the inadequacy of Bayer's study. Beekeepers are incensed at this information, and along with others are asking why EPA allows pesticides to go onto the market before they have been adequately safety tested. They also wonder how sound the science around such studies can be when they are performed by the pesticide makers themselves.

Main Source: 
Alternet, December 10, 2010

Comments

HAARP did it

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on July 27, 2011 - 12:35pm.

HAARP did it

HAARP Did It?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on March 20, 2012 - 7:30am.

MORON

A class action lawsuit is in order

Submitted by Mayinoh (not verified) on January 9, 2011 - 2:20pm.

I believe that a class action lawsuit against Bayer and EPA should be organized. I am not a beekeeper ourselves. The class affected might not only include beekeepers, but the farmers that do not use pesticides that rely on bees for pollination.
I can see a bill in congress the "Chemical Transparency Act" to require all pesticides and herbicides including ones previously approved by EPA to have multiple studies by independent 3rd parties. It should remove all control of the company from design of the studies to remove conflict of interest. All studies should also be made public for review. Bad studies will be revealed via the transparent process and peer review.

You don't need studies. Use

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 18, 2011 - 3:43am.

You don't need studies. Use logic. Governments allow Pesticide Corporations to manufacture millions of pounds of pesticide every year. The product (a poison) goes in a container AND on that container they paste a label with the directions on how to mix the pesticide with water and other pesticides, how and when to spray it, how to dispose the left over mixture, how to dispose rise from the sprayer and the rinse from the container and how/where to dispose of the actual container (bury it or recycle it etc).

Directions on a piece of paper is all that's between you and safety in the regulation of poison in your food and on the bee's food. Covering our planet with billions of pounds poured, dumped and sprayed since WWI is going to be a problem very soon. So, now that you know that - what value is there is a study?

The people who actually control pesticide - who determine the safety of pesticide in and on your food are the people who use the pesticide - the applicators. Any safety derived from a field test where they determine how much they can use so it doesn't kill you or the bees is a moot point if the farmer can't read. Millions of people can't read directions, can't measure, don't know how to spray or calculate humidity or wind speed - you don't spray when there is no wind so how much wind is OK?

Remember this - pesticides are not regulated at the point where they enter the environment. All regulation is done after there has been an accident or a violation and even then, the Government's job is merely to achieve compliance with the legislation (follow the directions on the label). What does that mean? Well, if people are employed to achieve compliance - it means people don't spray it right.

How do I know all this? from surviving a pesticide violation. So please, use my knowledge - it came at a high cost. Share this information until we get enough people with common sense to stop the use of pesticide - we need to stop drowning our planet with pesticides and chemicals. There is not much time left - pesticides ends up in the ocean - pesticides kill fish - the ocean is dying right now. When the ocean dies so do people. So do it for your grandchildren

Oh Man, See THEM go down?..

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on July 27, 2011 - 12:37pm.

Oh Man, See THEM go down?.. Awesome!

agree

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on June 30, 2011 - 8:59am.

Third party testing is a great idea.

It's time

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 8, 2011 - 6:46pm.

Most of the taxpayer trusted Government bodies to protect the taxpaying public became COWARDS and SOLD OUT like PROSTITUTES soon after or before the Bush era, this is no sup-prize, America is changing and God Bless the INTERNET and WIKI LEAKS for the New WORLD ORDER, as it seems that Corporations in the US had no SOUL, they will find one soon after the INTERNET gets thru them so just as most of us are defenseless against the injustice practiced in the US and abroad May God help the CORPORATIONS when the awakening of all MEN begins

Sold out is right

Submitted by DavePrice (not verified) on July 18, 2011 - 12:43pm.

sold out to ALEC! Bayer's name is on thier list. This is why so called gov officials, GOP , let it pass w/o a whisper, its why GOP is all for anything corporate and against everything human!

Bee die-off

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on May 18, 2011 - 2:42pm.

Don't hold your breath. What I've read is corporations own the world
and will continue to do so. They are necessary in some regards
but not to the extent of threatening nature and humans. These
nazi's abuse what power they have over our govt. No one seems
to know what is killing the honey bee off - have read chemtrails,
cell phone towers and cell phones, haarp, and of course the ever
secretive chemical factories, esp. monsanto and bayer.

yup

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on June 4, 2011 - 9:16am.

Yeah most of the pieces are in the puzzle you want to wait till it's complete LOL no worries I think they be missing something big right under they nozy~