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Large-Scale Study 'Shows Neonic Pesticides Harm Bees' (bbc.com)
Long-time Slashdot reader walterbyrd shared an article from the BBC:
The most extensive study to date on neonicotinoid pesticides concludes that they harm both honeybees and wild bees. Researchers said that exposure to the chemicals left honeybee hives less likely to survive over winter, while bumblebees and solitary bees produced fewer queens. The study spanned 2,000 hectares across the UK, Germany and Hungary and was set up to establish the "real-world" impacts of the pesticides... A growing number of studies have found evidence of a link between neonicotinoids and problems for bees... Data from this study has now been submitted to the European Food Standards Agency. EFSA's report on neonicotinoids in 2013 sparked Europe's temporary ban, and it is now preparing another comprehensive assessment to be released in November.
The BBC adds that "Bayer, a major producer of neonicotinoids which part-funded this study, said the findings were inconclusive and that it remained convinced the pesticides were not bad for bees."
The BBC adds that "Bayer, a major producer of neonicotinoids which part-funded this study, said the findings were inconclusive and that it remained convinced the pesticides were not bad for bees."
"The BBC adds that "Bayer, a major producer of neonicotinoids which part-funded this study, said the findings were inconclusive and that it remained convinced the pesticides were not bad for bees."
Then, why did 100% of my bees die within 24 hours after my upwind neighbor sprayed her farm with neonicotinoid pesticides?
After I moved to the US, I noticed how everything is so sweet and coated with honey. The country could do well with a large scale reduction in honey consumption. Fat!
"Bayer, a major producer of neonicotinoids which part-funded this study, said the findings were inconclusive and that it remained convinced the pesticides were not bad for bees."
Of course they're not bad for bees. In fact, you should wash your bees daily with Bayer insecticide.
I've always thought the fact the bees decline lined up with solar deployment was more than a coincidence. My guess is the reflection from solar panels either blinds, stuns, or outright kills the bees.
Bees tend to thrive in areas powered by clean American coal.
Is society ready to talk about the elephant in the room? Genetically engineered crops, it's long past time to get over the paranoia, marketing, and denialism, and start wider application of pest resistant crops.
to make science work with public opinion? Scientists will never say "This is a fact". That's been exploited for as long as I can remember by shysters who say "Well, the scientists say they're not sure" when nothing could be further from the truth. It's a verbiage problem. But not one I see the scientists changing on since well, it's part of science that evidence changes you're belief...
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I got stung by a bee once. I was just sitting on my porch minding my own business and one of those little bastards came up and stung me on my cheek. Well, I blew up like a big red balloon because, as it turns out, I am allergic to bee stings.
Bees can all go to hell. I hope they all die! Kudos to Bayer for helping to rid us of this menace.
They did not take in to account the timing of pesticide application.
Pesticides only have a limited duration.
...bug poison might hurt bugs? You don't say...
Now that we know they are harmful I don't expect our US government to do a damn things about it because "regulation is bad" seems to be the idiotology that so many people are following these days. :(
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
... for the past week there has been dead bees all over my porch every morning. Not sure why, but I did suspect misuse of pesticides.
Bayer has absolutely NO incentive whatsoever to admit that their product harms bees.
Unless bees just immediately drop dead upon exposure, they can also say "inconclusive", or come up with a laundry list of weasel words and phrases designed to instill doubt.
It's amazing that they get to have an opinion.
The studies must be done independently, but asking Bayer if they think their product is a problem is never going to get you an honest answer. ever.
Absolute statements are never true
"Bayer, a major producer of neonicotinoids which part-funded this study, said the findings were inconclusive and that it remained convinced the pesticides were not bad for bees."
I thought we moved past this bullshit with the tobacco companies in the 50's.
It's fucking infuriating that a company that shares it 4 initial letters with Bayes, isn't willing to rationally integrate the evidence of the study because it conflicts with their profit making ability. Nobody at Bayer better dare claim to be a scientist while they do so.
In sum, of 258 endpoints, 238—92 percent—showed no effects. (Four endpoints didn’t yield data.) Only 16 showed effects. Negative effects showed up 9 times—3.5 percent of all outcomes; 7 showed a benefit from using neonics—2.7 percent.
As one scientist pointed out, in statistics there is a widely accepted standard that random results are generated about 5 percent of the time—which means by chance alone we would expect 13 results meaninglessly showing up positive or negative.
You might as well publish a story that said. "Scientists prove that a casino die rolled 16 times came up a 4, 5, or 6, nine whole times. So dice are clearly all weighted to roll high. This is patently stupid.
Maybe neonicotinoids do kill bees, but this study sure doesn't show it. And whatever the effect is, it's pretty small.
"A useful counter talking point to "evolution is just a theory" or, really any "just a theory" argument is this: "The theory of Gravity is only a theory. It has never been proven either."
Or just find something else to do with your time.
Evolution, unlike AGW, has a deep backbone from fossil records to dog breeding. If you find yourself in an argument about evolution, either the other person is young and learning or old and never decided to invest the time to learn about the subject they wish to discuss.
Corporations should have to prove their product is safe when introducing such dangerous products. If there is a risk, they should have wait until cleared. To allow them to continue until they are proven harmful is patently stupid.
If you disagree, then you should be a guinea pig for every new chemical and not be allowed to stop until it has been proven with "scientific consensus" that your problem is actually what you claim it is.
Monsanto would LOVE to be the single condition for people's crops to grow, and the U.S. gov would LOVE to have the whole world if possible depend on an American company to grow food.
Do you really think Monsanto and other American companies that belch out GMO seeds and pesticides have nothing to do with this? Think again.
Stories like this are why I deal with weeds mechanically rather than chemically.
All of you are fucking stupid. The problem that you have is that you rush to conclusions, and always think that YOU are right. Slashdot users NEVER spend time thinking before they post, they never consider they might be wrong.