26 May 2013 (19:54 UTC-07 Tango 25 May 2013)/16 Rajab 1434/05 Khordad 1391/17 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711
“This is the biggest general threat to our food supply!”-Kevin Hackett, USDA’s bee and pollination program
“There is no question that neonicotinoids put a huge stress on the survival of honey bees in the environment. The evidence is clear that imidacloprid is likely the culprit for Colony Collapse Disorder via a very unique mechanism that has not been reported until our study.”-Chensheng Lu, HSPH
Several studies have revealed direct links between high fructose corn syrup, GMO (genetically modified organism) crops and increased pesticide use with the massive death and disappearance of honey bees. On 24 May 2013 the European Union (EU) banned the use of three pesticides based on such studies.
The EU ban begins in December and will last two years, before being reviewed.
On 02 January 2013, Poland banned the use of Monsanto’s GMO MON 810 maize (corn) and BASF’s Amflora strain of potato, after Polish beekeepers claimed a direct link between the genetically enhanced pesticide laden seeds and the collapse of honey bees.
A report published in May 2013 concluded that GMO/pesticides are affecting other pollinators, not just bees. The study indicated that the European Union was about to ban such pesticides based on their own studies.
In September 2012, another study says GMO/pesticides are destroying bees’ ability to navigate.
In April 2012, the Harvard School of Public Health proved that pesticide laced corn syrup is killing bees. The unknowing culprits here are the beekeepers themselves. Honey farmers want all the honey for sale, and feed the bees high fructose corn syrup in its place. Here’s the rub; prior to 2004 the corn syrup did not contain pesticides. How’d it get there? In 2004-05 U.S. maize crops began being sprayed with a new pesticide. It turns out the pesticide stays in the corn even after harvest and is showing up in the corn syrup (this also means that we humans are eating it as well). The Harvard study concluded that it only takes 20 parts per billion of neonicotinoid pesticides to kill off a bee colony within six months!
A study published online in March 2012 revealed that the GMO crops use a neonicotinoid toxin that disables an insects homing abilities, which explains why so many bees never get back to their hives.
Another study showed that even low doses of neonicotinoid pesticides is harmful to bees.
In February 2012, a study said that even dust coming from the GMO seeds could kill bees.
There are dozens and dozens of studies around the World which say the GMO/pesticide corporations are responsible for declining crop production as well as killing off the insect pollinators necessary for food production, yet those very corporations continue to deny that such studies exist!
In 2007 USDA official, Kevin Hackett, said what those corporations are doing is the biggest threat to our survival that we face, but you won’t find those corporations on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s terrorist list!
“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left.”-Albert Einstein