Vanishing Bees

Above: Bees enjoying the male catkins on the white alder in my front yard - they come every December. I walk outdoors and hear them buzzing.

Lots of press in the last few years about the vanishing European honey bee from all over the planet. Lots of theories abound. Now a film shown in San Luis Obispo last night has a pretty plausible explanation.

Vanishing of the Bees starts with the beekeeper who first reported the phenomenon in about 2004 that has come, in this country, to be called Colony Collapse Disorder. David Hackenberg was a large-scale beekeeper since the 1960's, he trucked his bees all over the country from his place in Florida. He and beekeeper friends researched this disaster, and finally traveled to France, which experienced this bee collapse ten years ago.

No real American research to confirm their conclusion, or perhaps even authenticated research in France, but the French government prefers to err on the side of safety and withdrew certain systemic pesticides. The bees were back healthy in France a year after that measure was taken.

Why systemic pesticides? The film delights in showing us how DDT was touted and sprayed with abandon in earlier decades, but even this pesticide only stayed active a short time. The systemic even lingers in the soil, let alone the plants, and seem to disorient and confuse the bees over generations.

Why isn't the EPA taking action, doing research or something in this? Like the FDA, the EPA does no real research of it's own. It depends upon the research done by the companies who develop the products. On bees, the tests last for 5 days. If the product doesn't kill the bees in five days it is considered safe to sell. No research handles any long term effects or anything less than lethal dangers.

Where are systemics used? Monoculture crop farms covering thousands of acres of usually corn or soybeans use systemics to kill pests. Bees have to be trucked in to these farms. To survive in one place, bees need a diversity of plants that provide pollen and nectar except during the winter. They could never survive on these farms. Systemic pesticides were introduced in many of these monoculture farms in the early part of this century. After bees visit them, they seem to develop CCD about six months later.

View the trailer and find info on showings below.

Vanishing of the Bees Trailer