Bat House Forum

[Terry Lobdell]

Subject: Re: honey bee mystery solved
From: Art Schiavo <redsockfan AT COMCAST.NET>
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 14:16:14 -0500

Sandra,
Thanks so much for sharing this pertinent information! I am
General Manager for the Hershey Nursery in Hershey, PA. I will forward this
to my operations people to check and see if we use any pesticides containing
neonicotinoids. If so, we will discontinue use immediately!

Art

Art Schiavo
1648 E. Caracas Ave.
Hershey, PA 17033-1109
Work: 717-520-5711
Home: 717-533-1978
Cell: 717-773-5794
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sandra Goodwin"
To:
Sent: Monday, March 01, 2010 7:30 PM
Subject: [PABIRDS] honey bee mystery solved

I am posting this with Carmen's permission. I also have some more
info which I can e-mail if you are interested and contact me off-list.

> Hello Friends,
>
> Many of you know that Priscilla and I raise honey bees. The first
> thing people ask us when they find out we have bees is: �Have they
> found out what is causing colony collapse disorder?� We now know the
> answer. A group of beekeepers went through all the possible causes to
> find out what has changed since this disorder started to happen. They
> eliminated most of them because they were already present before it
> started. The one thing that has changed is the type of pesticides
> farmers, landscapers and home owners are using. The pesticides
> causing the problem are called neonicotinoids. They are made from
> synthetic nicotine compounds. A major use of these pesticides is to
> coat corn and soybean seeds. The chemical is systemic and travels
> through the plant as it grows ending up in the pollen and nectar where
> the bees feed. The bees take the pollen and nectar back to the hive
> where the chemical becomes concentrated.
>
> Attached is an article describing the effect of these chemicals on the
> bees. The article also contains a list of neonicotinoid pesticides.
> Please look it over and spread the word that we need to stop using
> these pesticides.
>
> If you live in the Lansdale Pa area please join us to watch the film
> Nicotine Bees. This is a film made by beekeepers. It tells the story
> of how they solved the mystery of colony collapse disorder.
> We will be showing it at the Lansdale Library on March 17th at 7:00
> PM. Attached is a flyer about the film.
>
> Honey bees are responsible for pollinating one third of all the foods
> we eat. They need our help. You can help them by calling your elected
> representatives and asking them to ban these chemicals.

Main Street Sustainable Film / Discussion Series
Lansdale Pa.

Presents

NICOTINE BEES

By Kevin Hanson

Nicotine Bees gets to the truth of why honeybees of the world are in
big trouble and why our food supply is in big trouble with them. We
think the answers are clear
and have been for several years. We filmed on three continents to find
out the real reasons why bees are in catastrophic decline and why many
people don't want the reason to be told. Although bee population has
been in slow decline for several years, something else started in
2005-2006, a sharp and catastrophic collapse of bee colonies in dozens
of countries simultaneously - with the same weird behaviors.

The Mystery has been Solved!

Wednesday March 17th 2009 at 7:00 pm

at the

Lansdale Public Library
301 Vine St.
Lansdale, PA 19446

Always prompts a lively and informed Q & A session at the end.

Find our monthly series on the Library Calendar -
HYPERLINK "http://www.youseemore.com/lansdale/default.asp"
http://www.youseemore.com/lansdale/default.asp

Admission Free, Donations Welcome

More information 267 825-4674

Sponsors

ECLA PA HYPERLINK "http://www.montcogreens.org/" \t "_blank"
Montco Greens
Sandy Goodwin
Wyoming Co.=

[Cheryl]

Bees wandering off and getting lost? Definitely neonicotinoids. Nicotine makes a bee forget. So they go out to gather nectar/pollen and forget their way home -- and consequently never return.

An old trick beekeepers used to use long ago, to move a hive a short distance and have the bees reorient to the new spot (instead of trying to return to their old location) was to put tobacco leaves in the smoker when they moved the hive at night -- and smoke them with a little nicotine. That being the only time the bees received nicotine, they simply forgot the old hive location and reoriented to the new spot the next morning.

Bees and bats go well together; I don't mind bats munching on my bees. They're feral survivors -- both the bats and bees! :D