(Beyond Pesticides, January 17, 2013) The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) yesterday presented its report which finds that the neonicotinoid class of insecticides poses unacceptable hazards to bees. The report concludes that certain crops treated with neonicotinoid chemicals -imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam- are of “critical concern” for bee health. Beekeepers and environmental activists welcome these [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 19, 2012) The Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued its overview report, Bee Health: The Role of Pesticides, in response to a congressional request for more information on the connection between declines in bee populations, colony collapse disorder (CCD) and pesticides, particularly neonicotinoids. The 23-page report, dated December 11, 2012, summarizes the range [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 14, 2012) Decision making advice by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) and insecticide regulator, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), were harshly criticized on Wednesday by Members of Parliament (UK), as they discussed the problems associated with neonicotinoids, a group of neurotoxic insecticides linked to serious declines in [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 23, 2012) It’s a story we’ve heard for far too long. Research published yesterday in the journal Nature concludes that when bees are exposed to pesticides their colonies have a greater propensity to fail, again raising the urgent need for regulatory action to protect pollinators. This study adds to the body of [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 19, 2012) The environmental news magazine Earth Focus has launched a new video through Link TV that examines the threat of colony collapse disorder (CCD), and the roll that our regulatory systems and industry plays in the loss of honey bees. The video, Killing Bees: Are Government and Industry Responsible?, features interviews [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 18, 2012) Take Action! On September 25, EPA will close its public comment period for the petition requesting the agency to suspend the bee-killing pesticide clothianidin. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has failed to recognize that pollinators face unique hazards from clothianidin, a neonicotinoid pesticide which is linked to disruptions in [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 7, 2012) Yesterday, Beyond Pesticides joined with the Center for Food Safety and the Sierra Club, along with beekeepers from around the country, to file a 60-Day Notice letter with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcing the intent to jointly sue the agency for Endangered Species Act (ESA) violations. The potential lawsuit [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 28, 2012) New research reveals that bats may be at greater risk from pesticide exposure than previously suspected. When foraging at dusk, bats can be exposed to agricultural chemicals by eating insects recently sprayed with pesticides. A study from the University of Koblenz-Landau in Germany reveals that bats, due to their long [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 24, 2012) U.S. Representative Edward Markey, (D-MA) has sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging it to investigate a possible link between the use of common pesticides and reductions in honey bee populations. The letter comes as EPA is accepting public comments on a legal petition filed by [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 30, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has opened a 60-day public comment period on the agency’s decision to deny the request by beekeepers to immediately suspend the use of clothianidin, a pesticide that poses harm to pollinators. The legal petition was filed earlier this year by 25 beekeepers and environmental [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 20, 2012) On Thursday, July 19, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it had formally refused to recognize that honey bees face an “imminent hazard” and denied a request by beekeepers to immediately suspend the use of pesticides that pose harm to pollinators. The decision comes in response to a legal [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 2, 2012) The French Ministry of Agriculture has issued a ban on the neonicotinoid pesticide thiamethoxam due to concerns over the chemical’s impacts on pollinators, especially honey bees. The pesticide product containing thiamethoxam, Cruiser OSR, is manufactured by Swiss chemical giant Syngenta and has been used as a seed treatment on canola [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 25, 2012) The Canadian governmental authority responsible for pesticide registration has expanded its re-evaluation of neonicotinoid pesticides to include two additional compounds linked to honey bee deaths and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) announced on June 12 that it has added clothianidin and thiamethoxam and their [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 4, 2012) France’s Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll announced plans on Friday to cancel Swiss manufacturer Syngenta’s registration to treat canola seed with the neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam, a chemical cousin of the bee-killing pesticide clothianidin, in a move to protect honey bees from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). When honey bees are exposed [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 25, 2012) Biologists at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) have discovered that a small dose of the commonly used neonicotinoid crop pesticide imidacloprid turns honey bees into “picky eaters” and affects their ability to recruit their nestmates to otherwise good sources of food. The results of the experiments, detailed [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 21, 2012) American farmers are growing increasingly more frustrated with the lack of commercially available seeds that have not been pretreated with pesticides. Farmers across the Midwest have called on federal officials this week to provide greater access to seeds without pesticide treatments. The request comes as scientists and beekeepers highlight the [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 3, 2012) Last week, the journal Science published two new studies linking neonicotinoid pesticide exposure to bee health. These two studies, one French, one British, add to a growing body of scientific literature and strengthen the case for removing pesticides toxic to bees from the market. The French study shows that pesticides [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 27, 2012) On March 21, Beyond Pesticides joined beekeepers and environmental groups, Center for Food Safety and Pesticide Action Network North America in filing an emergency legal petition that calls on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend registration of Bayer’s controversial bee-killing pesticide, clothianidin. Because Congress has the authority to exercise [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 22, 2012) Yesterday, commercial beekeepers and environmental organizations filed an emergency legal petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend use of a pesticide that is linked to honey bee deaths, urging the agency to adopt safeguards. The legal petition, which specifies the pesticide clothianidin, is supported by over one [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 9, 2012) With Members of Congress attempting to gut pesticide protections from the Clean Water Act and state legislators threatening to repeal Connecticut’s historic pesticide ban on school grounds, environmentalists from the Northeast and beyond are joining with researchers, authors, beekeepers, organic business leaders, elected officials, and others to discuss strategies for [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 29, 2012) Bees are in trouble –in large part because of pesticides– and policymakers just aren’t acting quickly enough to help them. But backyard gardeners, sideline beekeepers, and ordinary people all over the country have been stepping up. Beyond Pesticides and Pesticide Action Network North America have launched HoneyBeeHaven.org, a site where [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 28, 2012) A study by researchers at the University of Padova in Italy and published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology has confirmed the findings of previous research showing that honey bees are exposed to toxic neonicotinoid insecticides during spring seed planting. Neonicotinoids are known to be highly toxic to honey [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 23, 2012) A new study finds organic farming practices in strawberry production result in much greater pollination success than chemical-intensive methods. Researchers also determined that this effect was apparent within just two to four years of conversion to organic, suggesting that there is not a significant lag time before pollination benefits are [...]