Monsanto Draws
Outrage Over "Bee-Friendly" Facebook Post
September 02, 2014
Story at-a-glance
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Bee Against Monsanto, an event in celebration of National
Honeybee Day, was a success, with 86 events occurring around
the globe, helping to get word out that corporations like
Monsanto could very well be at the foundation of the
widespread bee die-offs
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Monsanto took to Facebook on August 7, just before National
Honeybee Day, to reaffirm their “commitment” to saving the
bees
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In response to the “bee-friendly” post, Monsanto’s Facebook
page was flooded with angry comments, hundreds of them,
stating sentiments of outrage like “Protect them?? You’re
the ones who are killing them off!”
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Systemic neonicotinoid pesticides have been increasingly
blamed for bee deaths, prompting the European Union (EU) to
ban them for two years to study their involvement with large
bee kills
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The UK’s Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
(DEFRA) has indicated corporate funding from pesticide
makers will be allowed in studies to determine the fate of
neonicotinoids in the EU
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While Monsanto and Bayer invest heavily in new bee-research
centers, the UK’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has
also called for unbiased bee research to protect bees, the
environment, and food supplies
By Dr. Mercola
Last month's National Honeybee Day (August 16) marked the
sixth annual event – a day started by beekeepers to build
community awareness of the bee industry. This year's theme,
"Sustainable Gardening Begins with Honey Bees," showed that
concerned citizens are increasingly getting involved in efforts
to save the bees.
While beekeeping is most often thought of in regard to large
farms and agriculture, bees are important to each and every one
of us. The bees pollinate one-third of the food we eat – without
which their help we would suffer catastrophic consequences!
Meanwhile, 98 percent of those who keep bees are "backyard
beekeepers," raising bees in their backyards, not on traditional
farms. In addition to food, bees are required for pollination in
your backyard garden, and many municipalities have removed
anti-beekeeping laws, allowing just about anyone with an
interest to try their hand at beekeeping.1
March Against Monsanto Group Joins the Effort to Save the Bees
The first
March Against Monsanto, which took place in May 2013
involved some 2 million people in 450 cities and 50 countries,
who took to the streets with the same message—that genetic
engineering and Monsanto are out of control, and, at the very
least, we need labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods and
safety testing.
Monsanto, which is the world leader in GM crops (and the
pesticides and herbicides that go along with them), is clearly
no friend to the bees. And so the Tampa-born activist group
organized Bee Against Monsanto, an event in celebration of
National Honeybee Day.
The effort was a success, with 86 events planned across the
globe, helping to get word out that corporations like Monsanto
could very well be at the foundation of the widespread bee
die-offs. This isn't the case if you ask Monsanto, of course,
which responded to the media coverage of Bee Against Monsanto
thusly:2
"As a company focused solely on agriculture, we
recognize the importance of bees to our business, our
growers and the environment… In 2013, Monsanto announced its
Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action on
Honey Bee Health… Using a diverse group of stakeholders, the
Coalition will work to:
- improve honey bee nutrition;
- provide research investment in novel technology
for varroa and virus control;
- understand science-based approaches to studying
pesticide impacts on honey bees and increasing awareness
of pesticide best management practices among growers and
beekeepers; and
- enable economic empowerment of beekeepers."
Monsanto also took to Facebook on August 7, just before
National Honeybee Day, to reaffirm their "commitment" to
"saving" the bees. They posted:3
"Think about the last plate of food you ate. Chances
are, it was made possible by a honeybee. Learn how we're
working to protect these important insects."
The Facebook community was not amused… nor were they fooled
by Monsanto's seemingly altruistic message. Their page was
flooded with angry comments, hundreds of them, stating
sentiments of outrage like "Protect them?? You're the ones who
are killing them off!" and "Totally DISGUSTED!"
Corporate Funding Has No Place in Bee Research
Systemic neonicotinoid pesticides have been increasingly
blamed for bee deaths (and were implicated in last year's mass
bee die-off of 25,000 bumblebees along with
millions of bee deaths in Canada), prompting the European
Union (EU) to ban them for two years, beginning December 1,
2013, to study their involvement with large bee kills. At the
end of two years, the restriction will be reviewed.
In July 2014, the UK's Department for Environment Food and
Rural Affairs (DEFRA) conducted a consultation on a draft of the
National Pollinator Strategy,4
with the final version to be published this fall.
The draft lists plans to produce a "better understanding of
the role and value of pollinators, as well as the effects of
neonicotinoid pesticides on pollinators and the impact of the EU
ban on three neonicotinoid pesticides on farmers' crop growing
practices."
The UK's Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has taken issue
with DEFRA's strategy, however, stating that it relies too
heavily on corporate funding from pesticide manufacturers, which
threatens the integrity of the research. Chair of the Committee,
Joan Walley MP, said:5
"When it comes to research on pesticides, the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
is content to let the manufacturers fund the work… This
testifies to a loss of environmental protection capacity in
the Department responsible for it.
If the research is to command public confidence,
independent controls need to be maintained at every step.
Unlike other research funded by pesticide companies, these
studies also need to be peer-reviewed and published in
full."
The concern now is that these studies will be heavily biased
with industry funding, or that DEFRA may try to overturn the ban
ahead of schedule next year. This includes pesticide makers like
Syngenta, which has already tried to seek an "emergency"
exemption to the ban.
The EAC is calling on DEFRA to take a clear stance against
such loopholes, and their report further added, "New studies
have added weight to those that indicated a harmful link between
pesticide use and pollinator populations."6
Pesticide Makers All Want Their Hands in the Honey Pot
Monsanto bought Beeologics in 2013, a company whose primary
goal is finding a solution to the colony collapse disorder (CCD,
the widely used term to describe bee die-offs). Bayer is a
leading manufacturer of the neonicotinoid pesticides at the
heart of the debate.
They opened the North American Bee Care Center in 2013, where
they are conducting "bee health research" and promoting
"bee-responsible use of Bayer products." Monsanto and Bayer are
going to stop at nothing to make sure their insecticides and GM
crops are completely cleared of any wrongdoing.
Already, in 2010 a study by Montana bee researcher Dr. Jerry
Bromenshenk found that CCD was not caused by pesticides but
rather a
combination of fungus and virus, found in all collapsed
colonies, may be the culprit…
What was not widely reported in the media, however, was that
Dr. Bromenshenk received a significant research grant from Bayer
to study bee pollination – a massive conflict of interest that
is likely to be carried over into any upcoming research from
Bayer and Monsanto.
Are Pesticides Killing Our Bees?
Since 2006, US beekeepers have lost 10 million beehives,
worth an estimated $2 billion.7
The monetary loss is staggering, but the losses to the food
supply, which could soon be disastrous if bees keep
disappearing, is beyond words. There are many theories for why
the bees are dying. Viruses, fungi, lack of natural foraging
areas (due to monoculture), malnutrition, and even
electromagnetic fields (EMFs) have all been suggested.
But no theory has received as much attention, or as much
credible support, as the use of pesticides, and specifically
neonicotinoid pesticides. Neonicotinoids are now used on most
American crops, especially corn. This newer class of chemicals
is applied to seeds before planting, allowing the pesticide to
be taken up through the plant's vascular system as it grows. As
a result, the chemical is expressed in the pollen and nectar of
the plant.
These insecticides are highly toxic to bees because they are
systemic, water-soluble, and pervasive. They get into the soil
and groundwater where they can accumulate and remain for many
years and present long-term toxicity to the hive. Neonicotinoids
affect insects' central nervous systems in ways that are
cumulative and irreversible. Even minute amounts can have
profound effects over time. One of the observed effects of these
insecticides is weakening of the bee's immune system. Forager
bees bring pesticide-laden pollen back to the hive, where it's
consumed by all of the bees.
Six months later, their immune systems fail, and they fall
prey to secondary, seemingly "natural" bee infections, such as
parasites, mites, viruses, fungi, and bacteria. In 2013, the
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released a report that
ruled neonicotinoid insecticides are essentially "unacceptable"
for many crops,8
and in the US, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA)
announced that they were restricting the use of 18 pesticide
products containing dinotefuran, a type of neonicotinoid.
An independent review by 29 scientists with the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature (which looked at 800
studies) recently put another nail in the coffin for
neonicotinoids. The study found that neonicotinoids are indeed
gravely harming bees and other pollinators (like butterflies).
And that's not all. The research also showed serious harm to
birds, earthworms, snails, and other invertebrates.9
Do You Want to Help Save the Bees?
Bee Against Monsanto is looking for support, either in the
form of a monetary
donation or by helping to spread the word by "liking" their
Facebook page. They note:10
"While the players in our industrial food system are
'bee-washing' themselves at 'Honey Bee Summits' and with
'Bee Care Centers,' the bees are being systematically
exterminated by the very products these supposed "bee
loving" companies produce. Worldwide, the production of
Genetically Engineered produce is skyrocketing. In the US
nearly 90% of the corn and 94% of the soy grown is
Genetically Modified (GMO). These
GMO crops are
especially designed to release Bt toxins, result in
increased pesticide use, and demand neonicotinoid seed
treatments -- all factors in Colony Collapse Disorder and an
overall decrease in our pollinator populations.
The companies who produce widely used pesticides
would have us believe a parasitic mite is to blame for CCD
-- and that their poisons are not only safe to humans, but
are also non-toxic to the Bees. A particular class of
pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, has been demonstrated
-- most recently by a study at Harvard University -- to
impair the neurological function of bees, disrupting their
ability to navigate home. Beekeepers often find their hives
empty and their bees nowhere to be found."
You can further help by supporting the Save America's
Pollinators Act, which was introduced in 2013. If passed, this
bill, HR 2692, would require the US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) to pull neonicotinoid pesticides from the market
until their safety is proven. Please contact your representative
today to voice your support for this incredibly important issue.
Friends of the Earth has also launched the Bee-Action Campaign
to tell stores to take bee-killing pesticides like
neonicotinoids off of their shelves, and you can help by
signing their petition now. In addition, you can even make a
difference right in your own backyard:
- Reduce or eliminate your use of pesticides
- Plant a pollinator-friendly garden by choosing a variety
of plants that will continue flowering from spring through
fall; check out the
Bee Smart
Pollinator App for a database of nearly 1,000
pollinator-friendly plants
- Choose plants native to your region and stick with
old-fashioned varieties, which have the best blooms,
fragrance and nectar/pollen for attracting and feeding
pollinators
- Install your own
beehive
Copyright 1997- 2014 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/09/02/save-bees-against-monsanto.aspx
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