"He and many other beekeepers are more worried that the anti-neonic beekeepers and the environmentalist groups eagerly lining up behind yet another campaign targeting pesticide makers, could be pushing the government down a dangerous path. Especially since just a few changes to the way neonics have been applied in recent years are already showing a rapid rebound in bee populations. Banning the chemicals now could do far more harm to agriculture in Canada than any trouble neonics may be causing"..............................
Bees, bans and bungling: How an anti-pesticide campaign may spell serious trouble | Financial Post
The article goes on to claim that Alberta Beeks are not susceptible to the same loses under neonics and while I acknowledge we are in a damned if we do damned if we don't position given that the alternative is spraying more toxic chemicals harmful to humans I really don't have a decent opinion one way or the other but I do know this:
The goddamned environment is so toxic right at this very moment that 50-75% of colonies would die off each year and there would be no surplus honey if humans stopped medicating, feeding and managing their colonies and by far that is the real story that government, media, environmental groups and Beek organisations are missing.
I sometimes think of gerryh when I stomp around the bush as he personifies the attitude of the comfortable suburbanite living in a climate controlled residence moving about in a climate controlled car with store shelves full of inexpensive consumer goods and groceries and surrounded by green lawns, leafy trees, endless clean water from the taps and a complete failure to see that the environment is actually suffering and approaching a point of apocalyptic levels, at least from the perspective of anyone old enough to remember a cleaner environment.
I remember taking an ag course 15 years ago at Vermillion Collage for ****s and giggles and to illustrate the importance of protecting yourself from chemical exposure and not relying on government of industry to take it seriously the instructor produced an EPA report that showed the correlated increased incidents of breast cancer, leukemia and children's brain tumours in the urban neighbourhoods where weed/feed was being sprayed vs those that weren't.
Nobody in government or industry was concerned.
He went on to point out that from an ag perspective weed and feed had turned these lawns into drugs addicts where all the beneficial organisms in the lawn were destroyed and the lawn no longer took up nutrients through the ground but instead through their leaves (foliar feeding) and that while the lawns appeared beautiful, lush and healthy they in fact begin to whither if left untreated for more than a few months which is why they need a regular "fix" every 4-6 weeks.
Our environment and farming today is similar to these urban lawns. It looks beautiful and healthy on the surface but in fact it is increasingly sterile, toxic or dying.
Bees, bans and bungling: How an anti-pesticide campaign may spell serious trouble | Financial Post
The article goes on to claim that Alberta Beeks are not susceptible to the same loses under neonics and while I acknowledge we are in a damned if we do damned if we don't position given that the alternative is spraying more toxic chemicals harmful to humans I really don't have a decent opinion one way or the other but I do know this:
The goddamned environment is so toxic right at this very moment that 50-75% of colonies would die off each year and there would be no surplus honey if humans stopped medicating, feeding and managing their colonies and by far that is the real story that government, media, environmental groups and Beek organisations are missing.
I sometimes think of gerryh when I stomp around the bush as he personifies the attitude of the comfortable suburbanite living in a climate controlled residence moving about in a climate controlled car with store shelves full of inexpensive consumer goods and groceries and surrounded by green lawns, leafy trees, endless clean water from the taps and a complete failure to see that the environment is actually suffering and approaching a point of apocalyptic levels, at least from the perspective of anyone old enough to remember a cleaner environment.
I remember taking an ag course 15 years ago at Vermillion Collage for ****s and giggles and to illustrate the importance of protecting yourself from chemical exposure and not relying on government of industry to take it seriously the instructor produced an EPA report that showed the correlated increased incidents of breast cancer, leukemia and children's brain tumours in the urban neighbourhoods where weed/feed was being sprayed vs those that weren't.
Nobody in government or industry was concerned.
He went on to point out that from an ag perspective weed and feed had turned these lawns into drugs addicts where all the beneficial organisms in the lawn were destroyed and the lawn no longer took up nutrients through the ground but instead through their leaves (foliar feeding) and that while the lawns appeared beautiful, lush and healthy they in fact begin to whither if left untreated for more than a few months which is why they need a regular "fix" every 4-6 weeks.
Our environment and farming today is similar to these urban lawns. It looks beautiful and healthy on the surface but in fact it is increasingly sterile, toxic or dying.
