honey-comb hideout continued or pesticides versus pollinators

Correspondence leaked to Corporate Europe Observatory suggests the furious extent of the lobbying campaign on the part of at least two major chemical and pharmacological concerns against a proposed ban of substances that may be responsible for the widespread decline in the bee population.

Although might be several other likely culprits behind colony-collapse, from parasites, cellular masts to genetically modified crops, and the verdict is not final, British and French field research seems very conclusive that even trace amounts of the pervasive pesticide have devastating effects on beneficial insects. There is currently a moratorium on such treated crops, introduced ab ovo, as seeds, and lingering in the mature plant with the same deleterious effects. The leaked litany of contraindications from the business-sector try at various angles, blaming the farmers for overdosing, badly skewed studies that insist agriculture cannot survive otherwise, and even that the EU is being held ransom by a lobby of hobby apiarists hell-bent on protecting their past-time. Industry pressure may convince European Union member states to rescind the ban and ignore stern warnings and grave consequences.

beeswax

Over on the inestimable site Boing Boing, Hannah Nordhaus presents a very circumspect and sad essay about the fact that our honey bees are still dying all over the world and the cause(s) remain a mystery. Against the deadly seriousness of the grave prospect of a collapse of agricultural system that works and that we work in, a spate of triumphant and heroic headlines appeared, declaring the mystery solved. I have the impression that I did notice a few more errant bees this year than the year before, but maybe I was subscribing to the same journalistic deadlines and public attention span (the same sort of reporting that relegates Fukushima to the distance past), because beekeepers know that their numbers are still in decline. Hives do not only die dramatically, and by hook or by crook, there are several suspects but the evidence is unclear on how to remedy this disturbing situation. Could it be pesticides, monoculture crops, killer bees, climate change, electro-smog from cellular telephone masts, genetically modified plants or a parasite that’s easy to implicate? This is a development we can ill-afford to be complacent about, dismissing a problem because it is no longer on the press-horizon.

three-part harmony

The bees have slowly been making a come-back.  In the meantime, I was getting worried about their bee radar and their bee fandango.  What if they were all lost somewhere: they were going to London to see the Queen but all ended up in Toronto for the G7+ Summit.  Perhaps they were disoriented by the drone of the vuvuzela.  Speaking of which--the G20, that is, Congress' timing for palavering over the Dodd/Frank bill is absolutely stellar--so the US can encourage the world to back financial regulations that even the drafters are not fully aware of and completely unsure of how they will work.  A lot I understand was lost to compromise, but still the intent is their to curtail risky investments by institutions, stop bailouts, less autonomy for the Federal Reserve and regular audits.  I don't pretend to grasp any of it myself but still felt pretty uneasy when banks were jubulient over its accord and they latitude was not under the government's thumb as much as they feared.