Bijensterfte, oorzaken en gevolgen

[NGO viewpoint, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 Sue Kedgley]
Unless we take decisive action to protect our bees, we could be faced with massive bee deaths, a horticultural industry in crisis, food shortages and escalating food prices.

The honey bee is indispensable to our horticulture, our ecology and our economy. Yet the honey bee is in crisis all around the world, with bee populations being decimated by a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder, where entire colonies of bees disappear.

Geachte Voorzitter,

Per brief (Kamerstukken II 2010/11, 32 372, nr. 46) heb ik u op 22 maart jl. laten weten dat het College voor de toelating van gewas­beschermingsmiddelen en biociden (Ctgb) het verzoek van de Kamer inzake de herbeoordeling van neonicotinoiden op de effecten voor bijen uitvoert.

Treated Corn Seed and Pesticide Banned as Bee Deaths Continue
Ljubljana, 28 April 2011 (STA) - The government of Slovenia issued a temporary ban Thursday on seeds treated with neonicotinoid pesticides which have caused massive bee deaths in the northeastern Pomurje region in the recent weeks. The use of Biscay, a pesticide, will also be limited.

Het Ctgb toetst momenteel alle reeds toegelaten bestrijdingsmiddelen op basis van neonicotinoïden opnieuw op de effecten op de gezondheid van bijen. Uit de voorlopige resultaten van deze toetsing blijkt voor tien middelen bij het huidige toegestane gebruik een verhoogd risico voor bijen en hommels niet uit te sluiten.Het betreft de veldtoepassingen in boomgaarden voor appel- en peer en in hoge boomkwekerijgewassen en de niet-professionele buitentoepassingen.

Het Ctgb breidt de driftreducerende maatregelen uit voor vier middelen uit de groep neonicotinoïden. Het gaat om Admire, Admire O-Teq, Kohinor 70WG en Actara. Neonicotinoïden liggen onder vuur, omdat ze in verband worden gebracht met bijensterfte.
Lees het hele artikel op de website van De Bookwekerij.

Bijenstichting diende op 22 juli 2010 een bezwaarschrift in tegen het toelatingsbesluit voor het bestrijdingsmiddel Merit Turf.

Merit Turf is een bestrijdingsmiddel op basis van imidacloprid dat door het College voor de Toelating van Gewasbeschermingsmiddelen en Biociden is toegelaten voor de bestrijding van engerlingen en emelten (larven van de meikever en de langpootmug) in golfbanen, sportvelden, graszodenteelt en openbaar gras.

Het bezwaar wordt 20 april 2011 behandeld door de Adviescommissie voor de Bezwaarschriften van Ctgb in een openbare hoorzitting.

An investigation by Buglife – the Invertebrate Conservation Trust has revealed that contrary to statements made by Government scientists from the National Bee Unit on yesterday’s Channel 4 News item - http://www.channel4.com/news/bee-decline-not-caused-by-pesticides -, there is evidence of an increasing link between Neonicotinoid pesticides and bee deaths in Britain.

By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor - The Independent - Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Bees can detect pesticide residues in the pollen they bring back to the hive and try to isolate it from the rest of the colony, the American government's leading bee scientist revealed in London yesterday.

They "entomb" the contaminated pollen in cells which are sealed over, so they cannot be used for food, said Dr Jeffrey Pettis, head of the Bee Research Laboratory of the US Department of Agriculture.

[Persbericht Bijenstichting 4 april 2011]
De Bijenstichting, opgericht op 4 april 2010 is nu een jaar bezig als een zeer bezig bijtje bezig om bekend te raken in Nederland om de problematiek rondom bijen onder de aandacht te krijgen.
Dat is noodzakelijk omdat bijen belangrijk zijn voor onze voedselproductie en de biodiversiteit.

Ondanks de aandacht voor de bijensterfte vanaf de start van de petitie Stop de Bijensterfte in 2009 [1] , is de situatie niet verbeterd. Al enkele jaren is de bijensterfte boven normaal. Hoewel het brede Nederlandse publiek , banken [2] , de EU [3] en zelfs de VN [4] steeds meer doordrongen raakt van het belang van de bijen en de noodzaak om maatregelen te treffen om deze sterfte te verminderen; blijven acties vanuit de Nederlandse regering uit.

HELEN MURDOCH , Nelson Mail, 1-Apr-2011
It is used for seed dressings, on agricultural crops, soil treatment, compost products, in wood preservatives and in animal flea treatments. But the synthetic neonicotinoid pesticide family is under the spotlight of beekeepers and the Green Party for its possible bee-killing properties.

By Martha Moss - 23rd March 2011
MEPs, scientists and EU officials came together in the European parliament on Wednesday to discuss the potential risks of plant protection products on bees. Speaking at the event, ALDE deputy Chris Davies called on the EU to invoke the precautionary principle in relation to certain pesticides, which could result in their withdrawal from the market were they found to constitute a health risk. Some studies have suggested that neonicotinoid insecticides could be a factor behind Europe's 30 per cent decline in bee numbers seen in recent years.

Datum: 22 Maart 2011
Betreft: uitvoering aangenomen moties 32372 nrs 19 en 24 nav debat wijziging van de Wet gewasbeschermingsmiddelen en biociden

Geachte Voorzitter,

Naar aanleiding van uw verzoek u te berichten over de uitvoering van de moties 19 en 24 van het lid Ouwehand (ref 2011Z03129/2011Z03137), stuur ik u, mede namens de staatssecretaris van Infrastructuur en Milieu, deze brief.

[NGO Viewpoint] The Japan Endocrine-disruptor Preventive Action programme published a report on the impacts of the very large scale use of neonicotinoid insecticides (Nitenpyram, Thiamethoxam, Thiacloprid, Dinotefuran, Clothianidin, Imidacloprid and Acetamiprid) in Japan on ecosystems, honeybees and human health in Japan.

A MIXTURE of chemicals found in modern pesticides may be killing bee colonies around the world, according to a UN report. Seeds are being coated in systemic insecticides that spread throughout the plant, from the roots to the flowers and into the nectar and pollen. The report says that the highly toxic chemicals in the insecticides, collectively known as neonicotinoids, can cause loss of the sense of direction and memory on which bees rely to find food. The UN Environment Program (Unep) report says that when neonicotinoids are combined with certain fungicides, the toxicity becomes 1000 times stronger.

A new scientific study that marked honeybees with radio-id chips to measure the impacts of ultra low dose of neurotoxic systemic insecticides on the flight behavior of honeybees found significant effects of the insecticide fipronil (marketed under the names Mundial, Goliath, Regent TS and produced by BASF) on the number of foraging flights and on the time to return to the hive.
The experiment was carried out in a outdoor tunnel (8 m x 20 m, 3.5 m high) covered with an insect-proof cloth (2 mm 9 2 mm mesh) and a ground covered with plastic. The distance between the hive and the sucrose syrup feeder was 18 meter.
The median lethal dose of fipronil is 6 nanogram per honeybee. In this experiments the bees were given a single one-time ultra low dose which is twenty times below the deadly dose: 0.3 nanogram fipronil per honeybee.
The researchers found that even this single ultra low dose significantly reduces the number of foraging trips of honeybees. They also observed that their time to return to the hive increased with 30 seconds. The percentage of bees returning within one minute reduced from 77% (no treatment) to 51% (0.3 ng fipronil per bee). Earlier studies (e.g. Yang e.a. 2008)where bees were marked with paint in stead of radio-id chips and counting and measuring was done by humans with stopwatches observing the bees at the hive and the feeder showed similar effects for imidacloprid. The radio-id chip method enables much more precise analysis of the so called sub-lethal (sub=below, lethal=deadly) effects of pesticides on pollinators.
In The Netherlands the systemic insecticide fipronil is authorised for seed coating and phytodrip in (Dutch crop names) Chinese kool, bloemkool, boerenkool, broccoli, rodekool, savooienkool, spitskool, spruitkool and wittekool to protect these cabbage crops to damage by the cabbage fly (koolvlieg), and for the elimination of cockroaches.
Fipronil is systemic, it enters the plantsap and contaminates pollen and nectar of treated plants and also of nearby growing wild flowers, trees, and weeds and contaminates water on which honeybees forage.

New fears over bee declines
Around the world, losses of bee colonies and wild pollinators continue. Emerging explanations are complex and call for more research, but the case against systemic pesticides is gaining strength. Michael Gross investigates.
Read the full article in Current Biology 22 Feb 2011

De voor bijen zeer schadelijke insecticiden uit de neonicotine-groep (ondermeer imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, clothianidine en thiacloprid) zijn in Nederland zeer ruim toegelaten. Een overzicht van de gewassen en teelten waar het wordt gebruikt is hier te vinden:

[From Buzzaboutbees.net Feb 2011]
Varroa mite is one of the biggest threats to honey bee colonies. In the UK, it was first discovered in 1992. Exposure to this pest causes viruses and diseases to be transmitted to honey bees, such as Deformed Wing Virus. But could it be that neonicotinoid pesticides play a role in Varroa too?

Tijdens de stemming over de wijziging wet gewasbeschermingsmiddelen is de motie Ouwehand over de effecten van bestrijdingsmiddelen op gezondheid van bijen (motie 19) met meerderheid van stemmen aangenomen.

De tekst van de motie luidt:

De Kamer,

gehoord de beraadslaging,

constaterende, dat wetenschappers een verband zien tussen bestrijdingsmiddelen die behoren tot de klasse neonicotinoïden en de voortgaande bijensterfte;

Onderzoek van het Amerikaanse ministerie van Landbouw toont aan dat ‘neonicotinoïden’ zeer giftig zijn voor honingbijen. Volgens Vlaams minister van Landbouw Kris Peeters worden deze insecticiden evenwel gebruikt in de landbouw. Om kolonies weerbaarder te maken, doet men beroep op selectie en gecontroleerde paring met behulp van speciale software.

On 24 Jan 2011, The National Union of French Beekeeping (UNAF) announced victory at the Council of State for France, against authorization of the pesticide CRUISER® (active substance: thiamethoxam). UNAF requested the cancellation of three annual decisions to allow CRUISER 350, and the condemnation of the Ministry of Agriculture, at a Special Public Hearing of the Council of State of France.

The world’s bee populations are under an increasing – and perhaps under-estimated range of threats. These threats comprise a suite of problems including new exotic pathogens, loss of diverse forage, a new generation of insecticides, the stresses we place on our hives through moving them, and introducing chemical controls for existing pathogens like the Varroa bee mite. We cannot eliminate pathogens like Varroa once they are here, but we can do something about another major challenge facing honeybees - the new generation of insecticides called neonicotinoids.

A new Rabobank report titled ‘The plight of the honey bee’ examines the importance of honey bee colonies to global agriculture. The steep decline in bee colonies since 2006 threatens production of crops from apples and almonds to cocoa, melons and soybeans. “Crop pollination by animals, particularly bees, currently supports around approximately a third of global food production” says Ruben Verwijs of Rabobank’s Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory.“As demand for these crops grows, we have to find sustainable methods to maintain crop pollination by honey bees.”

"We zijn bezig de insecten uit te roeien", meent toxicoloog Henk Tennekes. Bijen, hommels, maar ook vlinders, kevers en muggen. Steeds meer insecten leggen het loodje.
Lees het hele artikel in De Gelderlander

A new generation of pesticides is implicated in the widespread deaths of bees and other pollinators and should be suspended in Britain while the Government reviews new scientific evidence about their effects, MPs were told yesterday. Neonicotinoid pesticides are linked by "a growing weight of science" to insect losses, and the assessment regimes for them are inadequate, the Labour MP Martin Caton told the House of Commons.