This video presents “Bees Dying Off, Colony Collapse?”
- “Imidacloprid is the most widely used insecticide in the world and Bayer´s best-selling pesticide (2009 sales: €606 million)
- The substance is often used as seed-dressing, especially for maize, sunflower and rapeseed
- The beginning of the marketing of imidacloprid coincided with the occurrence of large bee deaths, first in France, later on also in many other European countries, Canada, the US and Brazil
- After huge bee mortality in Germany in 2008 which was shown to be caused by neonicotinoid pesticides the Coalition against Bayer Dangers accused the Bayer management of downplaying the risks of imidacloprid, submitting deficient studies to authorities and thereby accepting huge losses of honey bees in many parts of the world“
This is an update to my previous blog Please Help: 24 Hours to Save the Bees!
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Update: 30 April 2012
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“Despite our massive petition delivery directly into the Bayer meeting, major shareholders voted to keep their bee-killing poisons
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Last year, our 1.2 million strong petition forced US authorities to open a formal consultation on pesticides“
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Breaking news!! Europe’s leaders could move to ban bee killing pesticides in 48 hours. Send this to everyone — let’s build a 2-million-strong swarm and make our voices heard before they meet.
Here is an emergency request from the Avaaz team urging us to petition European Union (EU) decision-makers to:
- Immediately ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides
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Days ago the official European food safety watchdog stated for the first time that certain pesticides are fatally harming bees
- which could put our whole food chain in danger
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- Save bees from extinction
Please click on the “Sign The Petition” banner in the Avaaz letter below to:
- reach 2 million online signatures
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at the time of this blog posting 1,392,692 people have signed
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- persuade the EU to get rid of these bee poisons
- pave the way for a ban worldwide:
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Please Sign the urgent petition in the following Avaaz letter and send this to everyone
- Avaaz and leading MEPs will deliver our message ahead of this week’s key meeting in Brussels:
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Dear friends,
 Bees around the world are dying off and Europe’s food watchdog just said certain pesticides are part of the problem. We’ve got 48 hours before key meetings — let’s get a 2-million-person swarm to save the bees. Click to take urgent action now:
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Quietly, globally, billions of bees are dying, threatening our crops and food. But in 48 hours the European Union could move to ban the most poisonous pesticides, and pave the way to a global ban that would save bees from extinction.
Four EU countries have begun banning these poisons, and some bee populations are already recovering. Days ago the official European food safety watchdog stated for the first time that certain pesticides are fatally harming bees. Now legal experts and European politicians are calling for an immediate ban. But Bayer and other giant pesticide producers are lobbying hard to keep them on the market. If we build a huge swarm of public outrage now, we can push the European Commission to put our health and our environment before the profit of a few.
We know our voices count! Last year, our 1.2 million strong petition forced US authorities to open a formal consultation on pesticides — now if we reach 2 million, we can persuade the EU to get rid of these crazy poisons and pave the way for a ban worldwide. Sign the urgent petition and send this to everyone — Avaaz and leading MEPs will deliver our message ahead of this week’s key meeting in Brussels:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/hours_to_save_the_bees/?bkyeWbb&v=21422
Bees don’t just make honey, they are vital to life on earth, every year pollinating 90% of plants and crops — with an estimated $40bn value and over one-third of the food supply in many countries. Without immediate action to save bees, many of our favourite fruits, vegetables, and nuts could vanish from our shelves.
Recent years have seen a steep and disturbing global decline in bee populations — some bee species are already extinct and some US species are at just 4% of their previous numbers. Scientists have been scrambling for answers and now the European Food Safety Authority is saying that toxic chemicals called neonicotinoid pesticides could be responsible for the bee deaths. France, Italy, Slovenia and even Germany, where the main manufacturer Bayer is based, have banned one of these bee-killing pesticides. But Bayer continues to export its poison across the world.
Now the issue is coming to a boil. EU parliamentarians are stepping up their pressure on the European Commission and key governments to push new legislation to ban the deadly pesticides, and we can offer them the public support they need to counter the powerful pesticide lobby. Sign the urgent petition to Europe’s leaders, then forward this email widely:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/hours_to_save_the_bees/?bkyeWbb&v=21422
Our world is beset with threats to what makes it habitable, and to what fills it with wonder. The Avaaz community comes together to defend both — large or small. Whether winning a battle to keep the International Whaling Commission from sanctioning the murder of these giants, or saving bees, the tiny creatures upon which so much depends, we will come together and stand up for the world we all want.
With hope,
Luis, Ari, Alice, Iain, Ricken, David, Alaphia, and the Avaaz team
SOURCES
Pesticides pose danger to bees (European Voice)
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2013/january/pesticides-pose-danger-to-bees/76158.aspx
Crop pesticides are ‘killing our bees’ – says MEP (Public Service Europe)
http://www.publicserviceeurope.com/article/3007/crop-pesticides-are-killing-our-bees-says-mep#ixzz2JGICse6a
Death knell for nerve agent pesticides in move to save bees (Independent)
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/death-knell-for-nerve-agent-pesticides-in-move-to-save-bees-8454443.html
Give Bees a Chance! (The Greens European Free Alliance)
http://www.greens-efa.eu/give-bees-a-chance-9012.html
Studies fault Bayer in bee die-off (Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0406/Studies-fault-Bayer-in-bee-die-off
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