Pesticides to blame for 'buzz kill?'

Packer managing editor Fred Wilkinson here with the latest chapter in a disturbing mystery that wallops many fruit growers in the wallet: the increasing disappearance of honeybee colonies in the past few years.

From the Los Angeles Times:

There is increasing reason to believe that Gaucho and other members of a family of highly toxic chemicals -- neonicotinoids -- may be responsible for he deaths of billions of honeybees worldwide. Some scientists believe that these pesticides, which are applied to seeds, travel systemically through the plant and leave residues that contaminate the pollen, resulting in bee death or paralysis. The French refer to the effect as "mad bee disease" and in 1999 were the first to ban the use of these chemicals, which are currently only marketed by Bayer (the aspirin people) under the trade names Gaucho and Poncho. Germany followed suit this year, and its agricultural research institute said it concluded that the poisoning of the bees was because of the rub-off of the pesticide clothianidin (that's Pancho) from corn seeds.

The Op-Ed piece's author -- Al Meyerhoff, is described in the article's tagline as "an environmental attorney in Los Angeles" and "a former director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's public health program." He details what's at stake for growers and lays some blame for bees' woes on the ag industry for its agricultural practices:

Something is killing the bees, though. Some scientists suspect a virus; others mites, even cellphones. (Bees are not known to use phones, though, having their own communications system -- a dance called the "waggle.") Here in the U.S., the bee kill is a big problem. Domesticated bees were brought to the U.S. on the Mayflower. Today, they contribute at least $15 billion to the nation's agricultural economy. For example, California's $2-billion-a-year almond crop is completely dependent on honeybees from about 1.5 million hives for pollination. This year, more than 2.4 million bee colonies -- 36% of the total -- were lost in the U.S., according to the Apiary Inspectors of America. Some colonies collapsed in two days. Part of the problem is how we farm. Rather than rotating crops, farmers grow the same one each year. This "monoculture" creates a breeding ground for pests. Farmers then use chemicals that kill not only the target organism but other life forms as well -- like honeybees.

The USDA weighed in on the topic in May here. Their take? Researchers aren't sure if the problem is related to disease (such as the varroa mite), ag chemicals or or even a mix of those two and possibly other environmental factors.