We want to shed light on some unfortunate information that is attempting to be hidden by one of the largest “big-pharma” corporations in existence known as Bayer, or the creators of Aspirin. Bayer is also the rightful owners of Monsanto (known as the World’s Most Evil Corporation), Round-up and Bayer CropScience—which solely develops genetically modified crops and pesticides. Bayer is the number one producer of toxic pesticides on the market today—which are decimating our pollinator populations. Without pollinators there will be no food, and thus no future for our natural population.
We are attaching a rebuttal submitted to the Washington Post regarding The July 6 Economy & Business article “Tough times continue for honeybee colonies” in which a University of Maryland entomologist made OUTRAGEOUSLY INCORRECT claims that “the biggest threat to our pollinators is varroa mites”. Ha! If you have read anything on the bee decline or are in anyway educated on the pollinator epidemic you will understand that this is absolutely laughable! We cannot shout this off of the rooftops loud enough: POLLINATORS ARE DYING DUE TO PESTICIDE USAGE!!! AND THE NUMBER ONE PESTICIDE PRODUCER IS BAYER. Please share this information with everyone you know.
In the rebuttal made to the fictitious Washington Post article financed by Bayer, you will learn that Bayer is in fact now funding University programs that develop surveys and studies that create fictional pollinator data in their favor… Thus the claim that “varroa mites are the leading killer of pollinators in our environment”. This is a wildly absurd claim by any standards. Varroa mites have existed in our natural environment nearly as long as pollinators have, and they weren’t decimating the populations then, and they are not now. Pesticides are decimating our natural environment and our future. The program Bayer formed with the University of Maryland is known as “Bee Informed” (ha!).
Do not believe everything you read—especially when it comes to data on pollinators. This falsified article was produced by the University of Maryland and published in the Washington Post. It is not credible by any means as it was funded by capitalist greed. We are attaching the rebuttal and original article below:
What's killing the bees
The July 6 Economy & Business article “Tough times continue for honeybee colonies” said a University of Maryland entomologist claimed that “the biggest threat is varroa mites” in regard to honeybee deaths. This claim is based on a survey of beekeepers’ opinions, not science. Beekeepers look at their failed hives and try to guess what killed their bees. Laboratory tests for pesticides are rarely done, as each costs about $400 per hive, and pesticides are difficult to detect.
The Bee Informed Partnership associated with U-Md. is funded by Bayer CropScience, Syngenta and CropLife America through the Honey Bee Health Coalition. An entomologist from U-Md. has previously forgotten to disclose conflicts of interest when publishing.
Bees are a subset of the flying insects that are in shocking decline worldwide. That decline can’t be blamed entirely on mites: They harm only honeybees. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that pesticides are harming bees (as well as flying insects in general), which supports what the beekeepers have said and is consistent with reports of massive insect declines.
Bees can fly miles from their hives to retrieve nectar and pollen. If they are killed by a lethal dose of pesticide in a farmer’s field or in someone’s garden, they will not return to the hive. Such a pesticide kill is indistinguishable from colony collapse disorder. Scientists have shown that even if bees survive pesticide exposure, they may die young, have a compromised immune system or lose the ability to navigate effectively. Pesticide exposure leads to exactly what beekeepers see as their hives fail: a dwindling population that can’t support the colony.
For the world’s most widely used class of insecticides, systemics, the entire plant becomes poisonous, including its nectar and pollen. Neonicotinoids are a chemical class of systemics that have become the world’s most widely used insecticides. Pesticide industry supporters will tell you that “pesticide use has reduced dramatically” in the past 40 years. They fail to mention that one pound of imidacloprid, the most widely used neonicotinoid insecticide, is so incredibly potent that it is about 7,000 times more toxic for bees than a pound of an older pesticide. Neonicotinoids are so harmful to bees that they have been banned in the European Union , even in the face of intense pressure by agribusiness to keep them in use. But here in the United States, we beekeepers have to lose, on average, one-third to almost half of our hives each year while the Environmental Protection Agency does nothing to reduce what is undeniably a major contributor to, if not the outright cause of, the death of our pollinators: pesticides.
Luke Goembel, Idlewylde, Md. | Board of the Central Maryland Beekeepers Association
Please be aware friends pesticides are, and until they are completely extinguished—will be the number one cause of pollinator deaths. Do not believe these “surveys” and “articles” being funded by the very ones responsible for the toxic pesticides. Do your part to spread the word about this falsified data, check your sources and do not believe anything having to do with Bayer, CropScience, Syngenta, Honey Bee Health Coalition, or Bee Informed as they are all utter bogus.
We also want to mention that many do not often associate outdoor mosquito or tick sprays with pesticides. Outdoor sprays are a HUGE culprit in Colony Collapse Disorder — which is wiping out our pollinator populations. Do your best to abstain from toxic chemical usage. Refer to some of the natural options we have included on our site or consult a local bee keeper / beekeepers association. They are typically very receptive to providing knowledge.
Spread the word and continue to give a voice to pollinators and our future! Do you part to #beethechange
