The poisoning of the bees

The poisoning of the bees

Providing invaluable environmental services, bees succumb to pesticides, monoculture, Mismanagement. Live as mankind disappear?

11/09/2013

By Inês Castilho,

with the collaboration of Taís González

In his recent participation in Third International Meeting of Agroecology, in Botucatu (SP), Indian scientist Vandana Shiva He recalled the tragedy that led him to study the impact of chemicals in agriculture: leakage 42 tons of lethal gas in pesticide plant of Union Carbide in Bhopal, in India, in 1984, causing the death of three thousand people and permanent sequelae in more than 100 one thousand. The president of the US company, Warren Anderson, it would have fled the country in government plane, days later, leaving the factory tons of dangerous chemicals, including DDT - they are there to this day.

The origin of tragedy, remember Vandana, is the so-called Green Revolution, imposed by the United States in its area of ​​geopolitical influence in the years 1960 to expand or market agricultural and agro Produtos - manufactured from chemical weapons used na Guerra do Vietnã. The result of this model, agribusiness, It is known: 65% biodiversity and the planet's fresh water contaminated by pesticides - breeding ground for sudden death and disappearance of honeybees, phenomenon baptized in 2006 from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), or Colony Collapse Disorder.

Providing invaluable environmental services, Bees are responsible for the pollination 71 of 100 types of crop to feed and clothe mankind, according to UN report 2010. Bees must, addition of honey, propolis and Wax - asparagus, canola oil and sunflower, textile fibers of linen and cotton and fodder crops used for the production of meat and milk, such as alfalfa. The vine depends in part on the work of bees and, with her, the production of wines. In a world without bees would be unthinkable citrus, avocado, In particular watercress ..., the production of apples, strawberries, tomatoes and almonds.

Sounds scary - and is even. The culture almonds, entirely dependent on pollinating bees, It is an example of the disaster dimension: It is now necessary 60% the remaining hives in the United States to pollinate California state plantations, responsible for the production of more than 80% Almonds in the world. Over the past six years, CCD decimated about 10 million of the country's beehives. The death rate of the colonies is 30% per year: that 6 millions of existing bees 1947, today there are no more than 2,5 millions.

global disaster. The decline in the bee population was noted in 2006, In the USA. When Europe woke up to the problem, in 2007, CCD has reached Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal. News of the disaster could be heard in Canada, Australia, Brazil, and even the disappearance of 10 millions of bees in Taiwan. “Sim, It is a global phenomenon ", confirms Carlo Polidori, researcher at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid, in Spain, where losses reach 90%, in some regions. The latest news are July, the Canadian province of Ontario, where lost 37 million species of insects.

No Chile, where until last year the official version was that there was no evidence of the existence of CCD, beekeepers in the BioBio region recorded, in May, the loss of millions of bees. As in Brazil, the so-called negative externalities of agro-export model reached in full the small creator.

In Brazil. Records on sudden mortality of bees are in the country since 2007 - Piauí, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo. All related to exposure to pesticides in the vicinity of areas of monoculture - tobacco, soy, cana, corn, orange. "The orange, which have been an important source of nectar for honey production, today are dangerous, given the amount of pesticides used to combat diseases such as greening", says geneticist David De Jong, Doctor from Cornell University (USA) and professor at the USP School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto (SP).

In Santa Catarina, in 2011, died from unknown causes one-third of 300 Existing thousand hives in the state. "Who feels more are 30 thousand families that depend on honey production. His loss was estimated at 6 thousand tons ", says the president of Federation of Beekeepers and Meliponinae State, Nésio Fernandes de Medeiros. In Dourados (MS), disappeared earlier this year about 3,5 millions of bees, producing an annual honey ton. "There is strong suspicion that was caused by the application of an insecticide of the neonicotinoid class in a cane field", considers Osmar Malaspina, professor of Unesp Rio Claro (SP).

Not surprisingly, like this, that in the last two years Brazil has fallen from fifth to 10th in the world ranking of honey exporters. "Underestimate the ecological service that bees provide us", notes Afonso Inácio Orth, professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). Already in 2011 if you checked the lack of bees to pollinate apples in that state. The same occurs with cucumber, melon and watermelon. By insufficient pollination, besides born fruit with altered shape and flavor, there has been loss of orange production, cotton, soy, avocado, café. "Through controlled experiments found that, where we put more bees, increases production. In passion fruit culture are having to pollinate by hand, for lack of bees ", informa De Jong.

Causes. The causes are various proposals: insecticides and fungicides, malnutrition associated with lack of natural flora, climate changes, intensive management of hives, low genetic variability, virus, fungi, bacteria and mites - together or separately. To the electromagnetic emissions of mobile phones has been investigated, without conclusive results. But the main disaster factor, scholars agree, é a classe of chemicals called neonicotinoids: clotidianidina and imidacloprida, manufactured by Bayer, e tiametoxan, Syngenta - neurotoxins that affect the nervous system of insects, impairing smell and memory.

"Pesticides are causing major losses, certainly", David says De Jong. "We have situations of acute toxicity, wherein bees die once, shortly after application of pesticides. But there are others where sublethal doses may make them lose track and not return to the nest. Low doses of insecticides also weaken the immune system Bee. The fact is that, with the new group of neonicotinoids insecticides, we are definitely losing many bees Apis mellifera and species of native bee ", warns researcher.

The evaluation confirms research conducted at the University of Stirling, no UK, the team of Professor David Goulson. The study proves that neonicotinoids, associated with parasites and the destruction of habitats rich in flowers that serve as food for bees, are the main reasons for the loss of the colonies. "Malnourished bees seem to be more susceptible to pathogens, parasites and other stressors, inclusive toxinas”, confirms report from 2012 the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Indeed, Good nutrition is essential for bees: the spread of monocultures has for them a devastating effect.

The president of the Brazilian Confederation of Beekeepers (CBA) and sectoral honey chamber in Brasilia, Jose Cunha, brings out that "these pesticides are systemic. The plant grows and toxic product goes sap, pollen, nectar, remaining in soil for years. Even in crop rotation still present, reaching the water table. Pollinators are paying a very high price, It is an incalculable environmental liabilities ". To Suso Asorey, Secretary Beekeepers Association Gallegos (AGA), "Placing on the market of these systemic neurotoxic pesticides coincides with losses of up to 40% the hives. "

Study University of Maryland and USDA reaches even more serious results. By contaminating pollen, mixtures of pesticides and fungicides, some as 21 types, bees lead to lose resistance to parasitic Nosema ceranae, relacionado CCD. "The issue is more complex than we were led to believe", afirma Dennis van Engelsdorp, responsible for research. "The fact that not a single product means that the solution is not to ban one type of agrochemical, but it is necessary to review the agricultural spraying practices ", he says. Greenpeace launched in April the report Bees in Declive, in which it claims to be crucial to eliminate the use of pesticides that affect the bees.

No Chile, beekeepers relate to mortality from insects to insecticide application already banned in other countries, but there are still legal - and also to use, as food of bees, fructose and vitaminizadores made with GM corn.

Prohibition. What about Brazil, world champion in the consumption of pesticides, with more than one million tons per year - not counting what is smuggled? under strong pressure agribusiness and chemical industry, O Ibama and the Ministry of Agriculture (Map) banned the use of pesticides containing fipronil (a pyrazole) and three neonicotinoids, imidacloprido, clotianidina e tiametoxam, only during the flowering period of cultures.

And just after the ban on the use of neonicotinoids in Italy, France, Germany and Slovenia, and much hesitation, It is that the European Commission has decided not to give in to lobbying from industry and, Also in April, restrict the use of these pesticides for two years, across the continent. The war for the salvation of bees is, therefore, well far from over.

Society of bees. There are about 20 thousand species of bees, entre elas as melíferas, of which about 15% are social insects, with strong collective sense, living in colonies around the Queen. There are nest guardians, those that specialize in caring for the eggs and hatchlings, and those who are responsible for bringing food - nectar and pollen - for honey production.

Each is a marvel of biological engineering: It is equipped with temperature sensors, carbon dioxide and oxygen. Your body, charged with static electricity, attracts pollen grains they lead from one flower to another, fertilizando-as. The phenomenon has extraordinary dimensions, when we examine the collective work. In a single day, a hive can fertilize million flowers, an area corresponding to 700 hectares, equivalente a 350 Soccer fields.

unconditional love. Mel, pollen, propolis, royal jelly are work products of the honeybee who serve us food and medicine. The poison, although it can be deadly, It is also bandage. In South Korea, for example, the insects are placed directly in the body, the acupuncture points, treatments for arthritis, rheumatism and multiple sclerosis.

To shamanism, each species has a group spirit, and these animal spirits are part of the collective consciousness of all species, including our. The bees have a sophisticated communication system, and his life is entirely identified with the collective. Would be humanity's guides communication, organization and strengthening communities. To spiritism, are examples of detachment and unconditional love. a blog Spiritualist Portuguese proposes to make "a giant global buzz" to ban pesticides in Europe, signing a petition.

"The bees are beings whose primordial energy is love and, that is why, completely free from fear. Everything they produce is fruit of that energy ... Honey is something we might call 'liquid love' and its use by humans should be done in profound reverence ", They say supporters of the Community Figueira, do spiritual leader Trigueirinho, in Minas Gerais.

Earth's inhabitants for over 60 million years, Bees are one of the most important systems of life support, and reveal the intimate interdependence between animal kingdoms, plant and human. Quote attributed to Einstein circulating on the internet suggests that, if they disappear in the world today, humanity only survive for another four years. No accident, his death is known in the US as Armageddon bees.

Original article: http://www.brasildefato.com.br/node/25878

one million signatures on Bayer pesticide petition bees succumb to pesticides.