http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/Colony-Collapse-Pesticides-B ees.aspx Colony Collapse: Are Potent Pesticides Killing Honeybees? With a third of honeybee colonies disappearing due to “colony collapse disorder,” it’s time to move into high gear to find a solution. October/November 2009 By Amanda Kimble-Evans Two common pesticides are being linked to colony collapse disorder symptoms in honeybees. EDITED Now the EPA is being sued by the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) for withholding details about the impact of neonicotinoids — a class of widely used pesticides — on honeybees and other pollinators. While Bayer CropScience, the primary producer of both pesticides, maintains honeybee deaths reported in Europe were caused by unusual application errors, they don’t dispute the proven toxicity of their products. Instead, they maintain bees do not encounter enough of an exposure to cause harm. Now even that assertion is under the microscope. A report by Maryann Frazier, senior extension associate at Pennsylvania State University, points to a new study from Italy suggests honeybees may be ingesting neonicotinoids at levels 1,000 times higher than that in pollen or nectar via water droplets expressed from the leaves of corn grown from the pesticide-coated seed. This “guttation water” is a common source of liquid for forager bees. The concentrations in the droplets were high enough to kill bees within five minutes of consumption. Frazier also highlights a study from North Carolina University that found the neonicotinoid Terraguard and the fungicide Procure had synergistic affects when combined, increasing the danger of the neonicotinoid to honeybees to over 1,000 times its original toxicity. The researchers at Penn State are concerned that even sub-lethal doses of these pesticides, while not killing the bees, are impairing their behavior and suppressing their immune systems. “Their use has increased dramatically over the past few years and they are now the most widely used group of insecticides in the United States,” writes Frazier. As usage skyrockets, regulation lags behind. Clothianidin was approved in 2003 with the condition that Bayer must provide research on the chemical’s effects on honeybees. The EPA has received the research, but has yet to release all of it — despite requests from the NRDC, thus prompting the lawsuit. The EPA has also provided 163 emergency exemptions for imidacloprid in 26 states, all with little to no research on the sub-lethal affects being reported by researchers in both the US and abroad. (Emergency exemptions allow unregistered use of a chemical for a limited period of time.) Pesticide regulation loopholes are making it nearly impossible to track down the causes of colony collapse disorder. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp