Amerikaanse ecoloog: 'we verspreiden dit spul in het milieu alsof we het zeker weten'

A world without honey? An unsavory prospect, to be sure -- although many of us could make do with molasses, maple syrup, cane or beet sugar or (in a pinch) corn syrup. But without bees, we'd likely starve: in order to set fruit, make seed and ripen, a majority of our food crops depend on domesticated and wild bees to pollinate them. Bee populations have teetered alarmingly close to extinction in the past 15 years or so, a trend that doesn't bode well for humankind. Mite and fungal parasites are now ubiquitous to apiaries. More worrisome, though, is CCD -- colony collapse disorder -- a so-far-untreatable syndrome that for two years has wrought apocalyptic bee die-offs in much of the world. Imidacloprid's toxicity to bees is well documented and could easily contribute to die-offs in colonies where the insects' health is otherwise compromised, said Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department ecologist Leif Erikson. "We just don't know," he said in an interview last week. "But we're broadcasting this stuff around the environment as if we do know."

As with so many other ecological meltdowns, this one gets more prompt attention (if not action) when it's translated into dollars and sense. A recent Congressional Research Report estimates the value of commercial bee pollination in the U.S. -- responsible for the survival of crops as diverse as alfalfa and zucchini -- at about $15 billion.

The report recommends more money be spent on researching the cause of the bees' collective nose-dive, which "remains largely unknown." A number of influential beekeepers think pesticides should come under greater scrutiny. Among them: Dave Mendes, the vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation and member of the National Honey Bee Advisory Board.

A commercial beekeeper from Fort Myers, Fla., Mendes moves his bees around the country, from Maine to California, and has experienced substantial hive losses whenever the bees forage in crops treated with pesticides -- particularly imidacloprid. "My efforts to keep my bees away from pesticides have proven just as difficult to manage as watching hives falter and die from exposure," he wrote in the June federation newsletter. "I am beginning to wonder if 'running away' from pesticides is a reasonable option for beekeepers today."

Mendes and other professionals are lobbying the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the chemical; in Europe, apiaries have succeeded in restricting its use on some crops. The verdict is still out, and the lines are drawn. In a June 5 letter to the advisory board, Bayer CropScience, imidacloprid's manufacturer, dismissed claims against its product (sold under the trade names Admire, Gaucho, Merit, Pre-Empt and others). "There is no scientific evidence that CCD losses are associated with imidacloprid exposure," wrote Bayer ecotoxicologist David L. Fischer.

Maybe not -- but imidacloprid's toxicity to bees is well documented and could easily contribute to die-offs in colonies where the insects' health is otherwise compromised, said Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department ecologist Leif Erikson. "We just don't know," he said in an interview last week. "But we're broadcasting this stuff around the environment as if we do know."

Bron: Burlington Free Press van 23 augustus 2009
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090823/NEWS05/908230309/1001

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