Honey bees endangered by insecticides

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(Updated)

Beekeepers say pollinators feed cities, and without them, we’d be in big trouble.  They also say our local bee population fell as much as 30 percent this year alone.

And now Ontario’s environmental watchdog is raising the alarm about a suspected bee killing pesticide. Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller is warning that neonicotinoid pesticides are dangerous.

Beekeeper John Pendzinski has about a million honey bees on his Niagara-on-the-Lake farm: “If you look at the 25 boxes, there are a lot of bees there.”

About 40 thousand bees in each box. Because they pollinate his fruit trees, he’s very careful about the spray he uses: “I have suspicions that something is not right with these neonicotinoids.”

Neonicotinoid pesticides are widely used by corn and soy bean farmers. The pesticide is sprayed right on the seeds.

David Schuit says he’s lost about 100 million bees since 2012. He blames the bee kill on neonicotinoids: “One seed of treated corn is enough to kill an entire hive.”

Corn farmers and soy bean growers have been using neonicotinoids for about ten years. That’s when beekeepers started noticing their colonies dying.

Environment Minister Glen Murray says he’s worried about the impact of this pesticide: “It’s an issue that’s caused me great concern. It is much more toxic than DDT.

Niagara beekeeper George Dubanow says he isn’t convinced the die off can be blamed entirely on one pesticide: “So the losses they’re having are also related to the mite and other issues with the hive.”

But beekeepers whose hives have collapsed are calling for an outright ban.

They say that farmers feed cities. But beekeepers will tell you it’s pollinators like bees that feed cities because without them, farmers can’t do what they do.

Ontario’s annual environmental report released today.