NEONICOTONOID PESTICIDES AND BEES

This posting is a followup to the one I did nine days ago on December 20/17. In that posting I more or less suggested that Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) had followed a middle course in regards to the controversy surrounding neonics or the use of nicotine based pesticides. Today's posting will shine a light upon one of the many environmental organizations that are strongly opposed to any use of neonics whatsoever.

Friends of the Earth had e-mailed information to members and supporters regarding the PMRA's recent decision on neonics. To put it simply they are totally opposed to any compromise whatsoever. It is also their position that the science is strongly on their side. Their arguments certainly appear strong and coherent. For example Ontario beekeepers have been crying foul for a number of years. France, Britain and the European Union all have banned neonic pesticides. While beekeepers can take some steps to protect their bees from these pesticides, as Friends of the Earth suggest, nobody is monitoring or looking after wild, native bees.

Neonics are widely used on seeds for soy, corn and winter wheat. Friends of the Earth suggest that these seed coatings leave residues in the soil which then move into both ground and surface water. That is indeed the reality of any contaminants introduced into the natural environment.

Lastly this environmental group and others have long suggested that our governments and their agencies are far too easily lobbied by the pesticide industry and that their decisions are not always in the public interest. That appears to be the case here.