A victory for honey bees!!!

[peacebird]

NEW YORK (December 29, 2009) – A pesticide that could be dangerously toxic to America’s honey bees must be pulled from store shelves as a result of a suit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Xerces Society. In an order issued last week, a federal court in New York invalidated EPA’s approval of the pesticide spirotetramat (manufactured by Bayer CropScience under the trade names Movento and Ultor) and ordered the agency to reevaluate the chemical in compliance with the law. The court’s order goes into effect on January 15, 2010, and makes future sales of Movento illegal in the United States.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=awNvfcIKf4AY
Bayer ‘Disappointed’ in Ruling on Chemical That May Harm Bees
Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) -- A Bayer AG unit is “disappointed” by a U.S.
judge’s ruling that may prevent distribution of its spirotetramat insecticide, a spokesman said. Environmental groups say the chemical causes harm to honey bees.

Spirotetramat, sold under various names including Movento, was approved for use in the U.S. last year, even though the agency was aware of its potential harm to bees, Cote said. The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental organization in New York, and the Xerces Society, a Portland, Oregon, a wildlife conservation group, challenged the EPA’s actions.

[lonestarnot]

1. BZZZZ!

K & R!

[ddeclue]

2. BZZZZZ! Go Jackets! Sting'em!

[aikoaiko]

25. 30-24

Nov. 28, 2009. :evilgrin:

[patrice]

3. Thanks for the good news!

[G_j]

4. this is very good news! nt

[Demoiselle]

5. Thank goodness! I love those busy buzzy furry critters. And we NEED them!

[earth mom]

6. Go Bees!

:loveya:

[66 dmhlt]

46. Well, this definitely calls for a "Waggle Dance"

The waggle dance is used to communicate the location of food sources more than 35 yards away.

The dance consists of two loops with a straight run in the middle. The direction of the straight run determines the direction of the food source.

The rate of looping and duration of buzzing indicate the distance to the food supply.

Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bees/danceswagg.html

[DainBramaged]

7. Why should chemists care about bees pollination and the need for honey

they only care about killing and profits. I'll never take one of their aspirin again.

[sarge43]

8. An important victory. May there bee more. n/t

[WhiteTara]

9. oh yeah! Bayer is a holdover

from Nazi Germany. May they crumble and go away this coming decade. Along with Monsanto.

[Buzz Clik]

13. Excellent point. Another strike against the Nazis and their legacy.

[GoCubsGo]

10. Yay Xerces Society!

You can help contribute to more work like this here: http://www.xerces.org/

Join up or buy some of the cool books they have at their store.

[unblock]

11. i heard somewhere the bees got a court order to stop us from making honey in bee concentration camps

now where did i hear that? hmmmm.

[Buzz Clik]

12. This will annoy citrus growers and others who use the insecticide, but on the whole...

...it's a good thing.

Needless to say, this chemical is not responsible for colony collapse disorder, but it's probably one we need to reel in.

[sarge43]

14. They'll be a lot more annoyed if there are no bees to pollinate their crops. n/t

[Buzz Clik]

15. That really isn't a likely result of the use of that chemical.

And bees are not the only pollinators around.

One of the more curious aspects of the discussion around the protection of bees is lack of focus on the monoculture approach to both the crops and the bees themselves. Those who commercially pollinate traditionally use a single species year after year. This has never been a sustainable approach.

Taking this chemical off the shelf, however, is a step in the right direction.

[sarge43]

16. I didn't say it was. There's no one cause for CCD.

No bees aren't the only ones, but they are among the most efficient.

What other pollinator can be transported besides A. mellifera?

[bvar22]

17. Our HoneyBees celebrate a small step in the right direction.

All non naturally occurring pesticides, herbicides, & fertilizers permanently banned on our little hill top, along with all GM Crops and animal feed containing hormones, antibiotics, steroids, or other contaminants.
The Bees seem happy, healthy, and productive, and their honey is the best.

[rosesaylavee]

36. Isn't she beautiful?

Wondrous little creatures they are.

[sarge43]

44. Gathering food for the babies, bless her.

Pollen basket on hind leg.

[flamingdem]

18. Pooh is smiling nt

[johnaries]

19. Great news! K&R!

[ThatsMyBarack]

20. I'm allergic to bee stings....

But I looove honey! :9

[Tim01]

21. Losing the honey bees would be a disaster of biblical proportions.

It would be an end to life on earth as we know it. The bees must be protected.

[WeDidIt]

22. It's a damned good start.

Everything has been going against the poor honeybee for the past three decades, it's good to see them win one once in a while.

[PSzymeczek]

23. I just hope

they stay away from me and our hummingbird feeders. I'm highly allergic when stung.

[pleah]

24. K&R

[Hekate]

26. KnR

[southernyankeebelle]

27. That is good news. I live in nursery country and they use allot of

sprays you don't know what it is. My mother-in-law use to have a bunch of beehives but slowly the bees died out because of all the spraying. Now they are all gone so she stopped doing it a long while back.

[onestepforward]

28. Great news! We sure need those little guys!

They are having a hard enough time already.

[KT2000]

29. We need more of these decisions

if the health of the public matters to anyone.
EPA needs a kick in the ass like this more often.

[glinda]

30. Woot!

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[valerief]

31. Bee-yootiful! nt

[BrklynLiberal]

32. Great news!!!!!! A victory for Mother Nature...

[1]

33. yay bees! bees and wasps used to scare the shit out of me...

until i moved out here to the sticks.

the first year or so they still scared me. always flying directly at my face. with their stingers. wanting to sting me, i thought.

then, after a while, i learned that they are just curious creatures. they fly at me because "hey! look at that big thing. let's check him out."

a bee or wasp has never stung me out of spite, or anger. one was in my boot once when i decided to put the boot on (ouch!) and one flew up the leg of my shorts once and i swatted at him (OUCH!) but in all honesty they are just curious creatures, stinging only when in fear for their lives.

i don't see all that many bees anymore, but brown wasps are all over the place here. they land on me now, walk around (sniffing me as wasps will do) and i just let them. i don't hurt them, they don't hurt me. we have become friends. and! they like to eat spiders like the brown recluse, one bug i don't like.

the bees and wasps and me are all just buds now, and i like that...

[winyanstaz]

34. K & R for excellent news!!!

1 for bees..
0 for Bayer.

Bayer has been toxic to the world long enough.

[rosesaylavee]

35. Yay!

[gorfle]

37. Where's the data?

The article provided no data to indicate that the product actually is dangerous to honey bees. Is there a citation?

[rpannier]

40. Here is the ruling of the Court

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA” or
“defendant”) registered an insecticide in violation of its
statutory duties to publish notice, invite public comment, and
publish its registration decisions. This case presents the
question of whether the EPA’s registration should be vacated in
light of these defects. It should be.

snip

In the registration process, the EPA identified concerns
about the insecticide’s effect on bees. The EPA’s review of
tests exposing honeybees to spirotetramat found, inter alia,
“increased mortality in adults and pupae, massive perturbation
of brood development, early brood development, and decreased
larval abundance.” The EPA further found that insecticides that
inhibit lipid biosynthesis have “potential for chronic effects
on bee broods and development” and “may adversely affect bee
broods and development;” and in 2007 the EPA found there is
“uncertainty regarding the potential chronic effects of
spirotetramat on pollinators because no long-term data were
available.” By the time the EPA made its registration decision
in June 2008, it had reviewed additional studies on
spirotetramat’s chronic effect on bees, but it still found the
data lacking because the chronic effect studies tested
spirotetramat at levels lower than the label-recommended
application rate.

snip

The EPA’s risk assessment of spirotetramat found:
Despite that the intrinsic hazard potential to bees
based on the acute oral and contact studies with
honey bees appears to be low, brood feeding tests
with bees and acute toxicity contact studies with
other nontarget insects (e.g. parasitoid wasps and
predatory mites) conducted at less than the maximum
application rate suggest there is potential for
mortality in adults and pupae, massive perturbation
of brood development, and early brood termination as
a result of spirotetramat use. This information,
coupled with the fact that two other chemicals
representing the ketoenole class of compounds
(spiromesifen and spirodiclofen) have also
demonstrated the potential for chronic effects on
bee broods and development while displaying low
acute toxicity, suggests that the mode of action of

snip

This product is potentially toxic to honey bee
larvae through residues in pollen and nectar, but
not to adult honey bees. Exposure of adult bees to
direct treatment or residues on blooming crops can
lead to effects on honey bee larvae. See the
"Directions for Use" section of this label for
specific crop application instructions that minimize
risk to honey bee larvae.

link:
http://docs.nrdc.org/wildlife/files/wil_09122901a.pdf

[gorfle]

41. Thanks for the info.

Looks like this is, indeed, bad stuff.

Steve

[Raine]

38. Hurray for the bees! nt

:bounce:

[cliffordu]

39. Yay for the BEEEEZZZZZ!!!

I LOVES me some bees.

[era veteran]

42. Poison bad/ Organic good

[greenbird]

43. Good news.

Last season I saw more bees here than I have in a long while. I get stung a couple of times a year, but by yellow jackets and hornets, not honeybees. Seeing a honeybee on clover just makes me smile . . .

[Vinca]

45. Bayer disappointed? Apparently money is more important than food.

No bees, no fruits and veggies. Last year I saw a grand total of 1 honey bee in my garden. Fortunately, the bumble bees seemed to pick up the slack on everything but the summer squash.

[Le Taz Hot]

47. K & R

for one of the most beneficial creatures on earth.

[defendandprotect]

48. "May be" . .. ??? We may come to understand why the ancients worshipped the Honey Bee--!! ....

My gratitude to the Honey Bees!!

Thank you Mother Nature -- !!