Modified Crops:Killing Bees?

[Christina]

Could genetically modified crops be killing bees?GM WATCH daily http://www.gmwatch.org — John McDonald, Special to The Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle, March 10 2007 original article With reports coming in about a scourge affecting honeybees, researchers are launching a drive to find the cause of the destruction. The reasons for rapid colony collapse are not clear. Old diseases, parasites and new diseases are being looked at. Over the past 100 or so years, beekeepers have experienced colony losses from bacterial agents (foulbrood), mites (varroa and tracheal) and other parasites and pathogens. Beekeepers have dealt with these problems by using antibiotics, miticides or integrated pest management. While losses, particularly in overwintering, are a chronic condition, most beekeepers have learned to limit their losses by staying on top of new advice from entomologists. Unlike the more common problems, this new die-off has been virtually instantaneous throughout the country, not spreading at the slower pace of conventional classical disease. As an interested beekeeper with some background in biology, I think it might be fruitful to investigate the role of genetically modified or transgenic farm crops. Although we are assured by nearly every bit of research that these manipulations of the crop genome are safe for both human consumption and the environment, looking more closely at what is involved here might raise questions about those assumptions. The most commonly transplanted segment of transgenic DNA involves genes from a well-known bacterium, bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which has been used for decades by farmers and gardeners to control butterflies that damage cole crops such as cabbage and broccoli. Instead of the bacterial solution being sprayed on the plant, where it is eaten by the target insect, the genes that contain the insecticidal traits are incorporated into the genome of the farm crop. As the transformed plant grows, these Bt genes are replicated along with the plant genes so that each cell contains its own poison pill that kills the target insect. In the case of field corn, these insects are stem- and root-borers, lepidopterans (butterflies) that, in their larval stage, dine on some region of the corn plant, ingesting the bacterial gene, which eventually causes a crystallization effect in the guts of the borer larvae, thus killing them. What is not generally known to the public is that Bt variants are available that also target coleopterans (beetles) and dipterids (flies and mosquitoes). We are assured that the bee family, hymenopterans, is not affected. That there is Bt in beehives is not a question. Beekeepers spray Bt under hive lids sometimes to control the wax moth, an insect whose larval forms produce messy webs on honey. Canadian beekeepers have detected the disappearance of the wax moth in untreated hives, apparently a result of worker bees foraging in fields of transgenic canola plants. Bees forage heavily on corn flowers to obtain pollen for the rearing of young broods, and these pollen grains also contain the Bt gene of the parent plant, because they are present in the cells from which pollen forms. Is it not possible that while there is no lethal effect directly to the new bees, there might be some sublethal effect, such as immune suppression, acting as a slow killer? The planting of transgenic corn and soybean has increased exponentially, according to statistics from farm states. Tens of millions of acres of transgenic crops are allowing Bt genes to move off crop fields. A quick and easy way to get an approximate answer would be to make a comparison of colony losses of bees from regions where no genetically modified crops are grown, and to put test hives in areas where modern farming practices are so distant from the hives that the foraging worker bees would have no exposure to them. Given that nearly every bite of food that we eat has a pollinator, the seriousness of this emerging problem could dwarf all previous food disruptions. John McDonald is a beekeeper in Pennsylvania. He welcomes comments or questions about the bee problem at [email protected]. General comments to [email protected].

 

[betchevy]

I live 100 iles from Galveston Tx... they have had 39 dolphin beachings so far this year that is more than all of last year.

 

[Christina]

Another Bee story below: keep us posted on the dolphins/fish stories on your coast Bet................BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Forget about the birds; right now talk among farmers is all about the bees, or lack thereof.Something is killing them off en masse, which is called colony collapse disorder.It's not just in California; honeybees in 23 states are disappearing. Beekeeper Max Eggman, of Terra Bella, who is also the former president of the California State Beekeepers Association, has been stung by the losses.Eggman said, “I lost 835 hives out of 1,000.”Here in the Central Valley, bees are vital to the almond industry.Eggman stands to lose more than $160,000 this year from lack of almond pollination and honey.While researchers haven't been able to pinpoint the bee killer, they have several theories.Some bees are found dead from viruses, indicating they have suppressed immune systems.This may be due to parasitic mites or lack of nutrients due to the drought.Many bees fly away from the hive and just don't come back.There is another theory that implies a widely used pesticide, called imidacloprid, is taken back to the hive.Many, including Eggman, think it's a combination of these.Researchers from agencies and universities all over the country are frantically trying to get to the cause of this pollination problem.In the meantime, bees are being brought in from Australia to supplement struggling hives and keep the almonds pollinated.The Almond Board of California believes the crops will be alright this year, and they are hopeful the bees will bounce back.So is Eggman.Everyone is working to discover what is ailing the bees and fix this problem.