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THE
FARMGATE
ALBERTABEESHEALTHY
DESPITERECENT
SCIENTIFICREPORT
IN JUNE, THE TASK FORCE ON
Systemic Pesticides, a panel of independ-
ent scientists, concluded that neonicoti-
noid pesticides pose a serious threat to
biodiversity and the global ecosystem. The
scientists also blamed the pesticides for
contributing to the mass deaths of bees.
This class of pesticides, also known as
neonics, is believed to have a particularly
negative e ect on pollinators, such as bees
and butterflies. The task force reported
that neonics disorient bees, causing a host
of problems with food collection, repro-
duction and navigation.
In 2012 and 2013, the number of bee
deaths in Ontario and Quebec was unu-
sually high, and many labeled neonics as
the main culprit. In response, the Ontario
government has sought to restrict the use
of neonics.
However, Alberta has the largest num-
ber of bee colonies in the country, and, ac-
cording to provincial apiculturist Medhat
Nasr, there have not been many reported
issues with this class of pesticides.
“Through all of our investigations we
haven’t really had any reported kills linked
to neonics in the field,” he said. “In the
last two or three years we’ve had less than
two or three reports and most of the time
it is misapplication. So it’s not because
of the product, but the applicator did not
apply it at the right time.”
Nasr added that Alberta’s overwintering
bee losses this year were only 18.5 per
cent, a number that is down almost 50
per cent from the period between 2007
and 2010. On the other hand, 58 per cent
of Ontario bee colonies did not survive
the winter. The Canadian Association of
Professional Apiculturists cited several
possible causes for the deaths, including
poisoning from pesticides, starvation,
viruses and weak queens.
Although temporarily banned in Eu-
rope, neonics have been a popular class
of agricultural pesticides in Canada for
more than a decade. Across the country,
neonicotinoid seed treatments currently
protect roughly 21 million acres of canola,
more than three million acres of corn and
another three million acres of soybeans
and cereals.
“Neonics, that class of chemistry, has
been around for over 10 years as a seed
treatment, and if you look at bee health
over that same period of time, colony
numbers in Canada have increased signif-
icantly, including in Ontario and Quebec
where the majority of these issues are
being reported,” said CropLife Canada’s
vice-president, chemistry, Pierre Petelle.
“The fact that neonics have become much
more popular does not coincide with any
sort of bee decline.”
In many cases, neonics replaced older,
more toxic pesticides such as organophos-
phates, Petelle said, which were more per-
sistent in the environment and required
extremely careful handling by growers.
Like Nasr, Petelle said that improper
application of neonics could easily lead
to bee exposure and deaths. As a result,
it is important for growers to follow best
management practices for protecting
pollinators when using insecticide-treated
seed. These include minimizing the dust
that comes o the planter during seeding
by pouring seeds carefully and not shaking
out the loose residue from the bottom of
the bag into the hopper; being aware of
wind direction and the location of nearby
hives or pollinator habitats; and controlling
flowering weeds in the field before planting
so bees are not attracted to the field for
foraging. Petelle also recommended using
Bayer CropScience’s new Fluency Agent, a
seed lubricant that replaces talc or graphite,
to reduce dust during planting.
In July, the federal government an-
nounced $1 million in funding for the Bee-
keepers Commission of Alberta to begin a
four-year, nationwide surveillance program
to track the health of Canadian honeybee
colonies. The project will document the
nature and severity of diseases, pest organ-
isms and chemical residues in Canadian
colonies. Previously, this type of data had
only been collected at the regional level.
Photo: Jerry Poelman
Fall
2014
Grains
West
12