Letter: Save bees, support state pesticide bill.
Regarding your fact-filled article “Beekeepers Buzzing over Pesticides” June 26, I have been a beekeeper since the 60′s as well as having measured pollution from industries for the old state Division of Water Pollution Control.
Its passage will start to remove the neonic pesticides from the environment.
Since the late 1990′s ever increasing tonnages of these materials have been spread around the world.
What science that has been done on this complicated subject has demonstrated many subtle effects from exposure to minuscule quantities (down to parts to billion).
A worker bee’s inability to return to her hive, and a queen not able to survive the winter are a few effects.
The French farmers long ago found a direct cause and effect between neonics and dead bees by sunflowers treated with such pesticides.
This resulted in the ban by the European Union.
This action was not undertaken lightly because of the large value of this one crop.
Friends of the Earth have been given assurances by some retailers such as Home Depot and Lowe’s that they will phase out neonic-treated plants.