http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/summer-harvest/19-crops-that-would-disappear/68073

Bees have been disappearing at an alarming rate and continue to vanish without a trace ... ... ...

Honey Bees - Why should anyone care?

Well, they matter a lot more than most people would think. With summer upon us, it's exciting to see the reemergence of some of our favorite produce, including stone fruit, peppers, sweet, juicy melons, and succulent strawberries. But what if the arrival of these crops each summer were to come to an end?

Honeybees, among other pollinators such as bats, birds, butterflies, and bumblebees, are responsible in one way or another for the pollination of approximately 100 crops, according to Dr. Reese Halter, Ph.D., author of The Incomparable Honeybee and distinguished conservation biologist. And they're not just the fruits of summer; imagine a Thanksgiving, for example, without sweet potatoes or pumpkin pie.

However, the implications of the disappearance of honeybees are not just gastronomic; they are also economic in scope, and in that respect, the scale is significant. According to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), more than $15 billion worth of crops are pollinated by bees each year just in the United States alone. Put another way, one of every three bites of food Americans consume comes from a plant visited by bees or other pollinators.

The problem was first observed in France in 1994, following the debut of a new type of pesticide by Bayer, dubbed Gaucho, which was first used on sunflower crops. Gaucho was part of a new class of pesticides known as systemic pesticides, or as Halter refers to them, neonicotinoids.

Bees collecting pollen from sunflowers treated with Gaucho exhibited confused and nervous behavior; thus, the phenomenon was initially termed the "mad bee disease" - the bees, according to Halter, were literally "shaking to death." Furthermore, the bees abandoned their hives, never to return, leaving only the queen behind. Following massive protests by farmers, the French government suspended the use of the pesticide.

Honey Bees in the US:

In the United States, the phenomenon was first observed in 2006 by a beekeeper, David Hackenberg. Hackenberg and his fellow beekeeper David Mendes testified before Congress about a problem that had become widespread, by then termed Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) by scientists. No longer were people chalking it up to bad beekeeping; everyone was experiencing the same rapid, catastrophic declines in hive populations in 35 states. And no one could explain why.

The theories were numerous, but the data were scarce. Some people thought that cellphone towers were interfering with the bees' ability to navigate; others thought that the bees were falling prey to the usual suspects, including the varroa mite and the fungal bacteria nocema ceranae; while another popular theory was climate change. But, no one really knew for sure, because CCD very rarely left behind any dead bees in the broken hive that could be examined.

Pesticides

The most compelling theory, though, has to do with bee husbandry, and brings us full circle back to the issue of systemic pesticides. Beekeepers in the United States no longer generate the majority of their revenue from sales of honey; the value of honey sold annually in the United States amounts only to $150 million a year, according to the NRDC, a mere fraction of the value of the crops pollinated by bees.

The life of a typical bee in this business consists of following the major cash crops around the country as the seasons change, and that means a lot of traveling on trucks. California alone requires half of all the honeybees in the United States for its $2.3 billion almond crop annually, according to the NRDC.

So stress is probably a major issue, but far more relevant is the fact that while on the road, there is no access to local flora to collect nectar for honey. So instead, according to Halter, they subsist on a steady diet of corn syrup, usually genetically modified and laden with residual neonicotinoids. Halter estimates that about 2.5 million hives are trucked around this manner every year.

Pesticides - Just what is so insidious about neonicotinoids?

Neonicotinoids differ from older style pesticides which were applied through spraying; instead, they generally come in the form of pellets, which are taken up by the roots of the plant when watered, and end up concentrated in the pollen and nectar that bees pick up when foraging. But, it doesn't end there. Subsequent generations of the plant will also contain trace amounts of the pesticide and secrete them as well.

Pesticides - Studies

Studies performed by companies which produce these neonicotinoids have tested only in lethal doses and observed the bees immediately after exposure. But, in the real world, bees are never really exposed to such high concentrations all at once. Instead, the concern lies with the accumulated effects of repeated exposure in lower concentrations, which are difficult to test, and thus have not been tested. In other words, the use of these systemic pesticides could lead to a delayed detrimental effect on bee populations.

However compelling any one theory may be, it is more likely though, that CCD is due to a confluence of factors.

Halter estimates that about one-quarter trillion bees have succumbed to CCD since it was first observed in France in 1994. And it is an ongoing problem. Halter says that prior to CCD, beekeepers would normally observe natural attrition rates of 11 to 12 percent. Nowadays, it is common to lose upward of 30 percent of the hive during transport.

Policymakers are beginning to act, however. In Europe, Halter says that neonicotinoids are starting to be banned. And the NRDC successfully sued the EPA in New York State in December 2009 over the questionable approval of a new systemic pesticide. Sales were halted nationwide in January 2010 pending further investigation. Similar actions will help bee populations from declining further.

Here are a few things you can do, however, to combat the problem.

1. Buy Organic. Buying organic fruits and vegetables keeps more pesticides from being introduced into the environment and helps encourage more sustainable farming practices that are beneficial to bees.

2. Buy Local. Shop at farmers markets when seasons allow to support smaller-scale farms that are less likely to engage in monoculture. When the choice is between imported, certified organic produce and local, non-certified produce, choose local first; chances are, smaller-scale farmers are already engaging in practices that comply or exceed the requirements of organic farming, but choose not to get certified due to high costs and other pragmatic barriers.

3. Host a Hive. Urban beekeeping provides a safe refuge for honeybees and in return, they help cross-pollinate the local flora. In 2010, New York City lifted the ban on urban beekeeping, following similar actions by Seattle, San Francisco, and Chicago, and since then, it has become quite popular among city residents. Most recently, the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel has set up a beekeeping operation on its roof to harvest honey. And they're not the only ones to jump onto the beekeeping bandwagon; hotels around the world have started providing homes for bees as well.

By Will Budiaman, Editor

http://wakeup-world.com/2012/01/20/scientists-link-mass-death-of-honey-bees-to-farm-insecticide/

Honey Bee Population Decline

Honeybee populations have been in serious decline for years, and Purdue University scientists may have identified one of the factors that cause bee deaths around agricultural fields.

Analyses of bees found dead in and around hives from several apiaries over two years in Indiana showed the presence of neonicotinoidinsecticides, which are commonly used to coat corn and soybean seeds before planting. The research showed that those insecticides were present at high concentrations in waste talc that is exhausted from farm machinery during planting.

Insecticides

The insecticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam were also consistently found at low levels in soil – up to two years after treated seed was planted – on nearby dandelion flowers and in corn pollen gathered by the bees, according to the findings released in the journal PLoS One this month.

“We know that these insecticides are highly toxic to bees; we found them in each sample of dead and dying bees,” said Christian Krupke, associate professor of entomology and a co-author of the findings.

The United States is losing about one-third of its honeybee hives each year, according to Greg Hunt, a Purdue professor of behavioral genetics, honeybee specialist and co-author of the findings. Hunt said no one factor is to blame, though scientists believe that others such as mites and insecticides are all working against the bees, which are important for pollinating food crops and wild plants.

“It’s like death by a thousand cuts for these bees,” Hunt said.

Toxicology Reports - Insecticide Poisoning

Krupke and Hunt received reports that bee deaths in 2010 and 2011 were occurring at planting time in hives near agricultural fields. Toxicological screenings performed by Brian Eitzer, a co-author of the study from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, for an array of pesticides showed that the neonicotinoids used to treat corn and soybean seed were present in each sample of affected bees. Krupke said other bees at those hives exhibited tremors, uncoordinated movement and convulsions, all signs of insecticide poisoning.

Seeds of most annual crops are coated in neonicotinoid insecticides for protection after planting. All corn seed and about half of all soybean seed is treated. The coatings are sticky, and in order to keep seeds flowing freely in the vacuum systems used in planters, they are mixed with talc. Excess talc used in the process is released during planting and routine planter cleaning procedures.

“Given the rates of corn planting and talc usage, we are blowing large amounts of contaminated talc into the environment. The dust is quite light and appears to be quite mobile,” Krupke said.

Krupke said the corn pollen that bees were bringing back to hives later in the year tested positive for neonicotinoids at levels roughly below 100 parts per billion.

“That’s enough to kill bees if sufficient amounts are consumed, but it is not acutely toxic,” he said.

On the other hand, the exhausted talc showed extremely high levels of the insecticides – up to about 700,000 times the lethal contact dose for a bee.

“Whatever was on the seed was being exhausted into the environment,” Krupke said. “This material is so concentrated that even small amounts landing on flowering plants around a field can kill foragers or be transported to the hive in contaminated pollen. This might be why we found these insecticides in pollen that the bees had collected and brought back to their hives.”

Krupke suggested that efforts could be made to limit or eliminate talc emissions during planting.

“That’s the first target for corrective action,” he said. “It stands out as being an enormous source of potential environmental contamination, not just for honeybees, but for any insects living in or near these fields. The fact that these compounds can persist for months or years means that plants growing in these soils can take up these compounds in leaf tissue or pollen.”

Although corn and soybean production does not require insect pollinators, that is not the case for most plants that provide food. Krupke said protecting bees benefits agriculture since most fruit, nut and vegetable crop plants depend upon honeybees for pollination. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the value of honeybees to commercial agriculture at $15 billion to $20 billion annually.

Hunt said he would continue to study the sublethal effects of neonicotinoids. He said for bees that do not die from the insecticide there could be other effects, such as loss of homing ability or less resistance to disease or mites.

“I think we need to stop and try to understand the risks associated with these insecticides,” Hunt said.

The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign and the USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative funded the research.

http://wakeup-world.com/2012/01/20/scientists-link-mass-death-of-honey-bees-to-farm-insecticide/

BBC News Report - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13597080

A deadly E. coli outbreak in Europe is expected to worsen in coming days, a senior German scientist has said. Fourteen people have died in Germany and one woman has now died in Sweden after a trip to Germany.

"We hope the number of cases will go down but we fear it will worsen," said Oliver Grieve, of the University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein, where many victims are being treated. It is thought cucumbers from Spain caused the outbreak. But Spanish officials have refused to accept the blame, saying it is still unclear exactly when and where the vegetables were contaminated. The president of Spain's fruit and vegetable export federation has urged the government to deal with the outbreak, saying it was costing Spanish exporters $200m (£120m) a week.

Asked which countries had stopped buying Spanish produce, Jorge Brotons reportedly told a news conference: "Almost all Europe. There is a domino effect on all vegetables and fruits." The World Health Organization (WHO) has described the outbreak as "very large and very severe" and has urged countries to work together to find the source of contamination.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany's national disease institute, has confirmed 329 cases in the country - though some reports have mentioned as many as 1,200 cases. In Sweden, authorities earlier said there were 36 suspected E. coli infections, all linked to travel in northern Germany. On Tuesday, Swedish authorities said a woman in her 50s had died in hospital, after being admitted on Sunday following a trip to Germany.

Cases have also been reported in Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK. This is believed to be an outbreak of the 0104 strain of E. coli. In many instances, the gastrointestinal infection has led to Haemolytic-uraemic Syndrome (HUS), which causes kidney problems and is potentially fatal. Suspicion has fallen on organic cucumbers from Spain imported by Germany but then re-exported to other European countries, or exported directly by Spain. Cucumbers from the cities of Almeria and Malaga have been identified as possible sources -of contamination, according to an EU spokeswoman.

Wider Ban Threatened

Several countries have taken steps to curtail the outbreak, such as banning cucumber imports and removing the vegetables from sale. On Monday, Spanish Agriculture Minister Rosa Aguilar denied Spanish vegetables were to blame, and said Spain would look into claiming damages for losses incurred. "Our understanding is that the problem does not come from the [country of] origin," Ms Aguilar was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

"The image of Spain is being damaged, Spanish producers are being damaged and the Spanish government is not prepared to accept this situation," she said. She also urged Germany to wrap up its investigation into the cause of the outbreak. The results of the probe are not expected before Tuesday or Wednesday, officials said.

German authorities have warned people to avoid eating raw cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce. They have also warned the outbreak may get worse as its source may still be active. The sickness is not directly contagious but it can be transferred between people if an infected person prepares food for others.

By Rob Edwards, The Sunday Herald, August 3, 2009 - http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18730.cfm

Almost half of the fresh fruit and veg sold across the UK is contaminated with toxic pesticides, according to the latest scientific surveys for the government. Nearly every orange, 94% of pineapples and 90% of pears sampled were laced with traces of chemicals used to kill bugs. High proportions of apples, grapes and tomatoes were also tainted, as were parsnips, melons and cucumbers.

Alarmingly, as much as a quarter of the food on sale in 2008 - the date of the latest figures - was found to contain multiple pesticides. In some cases, up to ten different chemicals were detected in a single sample. advertisement Experts warn that the "cocktail effect" of so many different chemicals endangers health. They also point out that some of the pesticides are not only cancer-causing but also so-called "gender-benders" - chemicals that disrupt human sexuality.

The revelations about the widespread contamination of conventionally-produced food have also prompted renewed attacks on the government's Food Standards Agency. The FSA published a report last week casting doubt on the health benefits of eating organic food, which is mostly produced without pesticides. Over 4000 samples of more than 50 kinds of food on sale to the public in 2008 have been tested by scientists for some 240 pesticides.

Detailed reports for the government's Pesticide Residues Committee show that 46% of all the food samples were found to contain detectable levels of pesticides. Just over 25% contained more than one pesticide. In 57 cases the levels of contamination were so serious that they breached the government's safety limits. They included 13 samples of beans in pods, and 10 yams, as well as potatoes, spinach and chilli peppers. There were hardly any types of fruit and veg found to be completely free of contamination, although the vast majority of organic food tested was clean. As well as fruit and vegetables, smoothies, whole-grain breakfast cereals, oily fish and wine all contained pesticides (see accompanying table).

Hundreds of pages of tables released by the Pesticide Residues Committee show that many of the contaminated products were bought at well-known supermarkets in Scotland. They include an iceberg lettuce, a courgette and a packet of Cheerios from a Tesco store in Glasgow. Asda was found to be selling parsnips in Glasgow, Chinese leaves in Edinburgh and apricots in Aberdeen, all with pesticides. Baby food and oranges from Sainsbury's in Glasgow were contaminated, as were white bread and bagels at Morrisons in Aberdeen. Government scientists say that the residues would be "unlikely" to damage the health of those that eat them. But this is disputed by a growing body of experts concerned about the impact of mixtures of different chemicals.

"Researchers are concerned about the possible adverse health effects of very low-level exposures to mixtures of chemicals," said professor Andrew Watterson, head of the Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group at the University of Stirling. Watterson pointed out that several of the pesticides found on food were thought to be carcinogenic. Others were suspected of being endocrine disruptors, meaning that they could cause sex changes. He also criticised the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for failing to include the impact of pesticides in last week's report on organic food. "Why did the FSA apparently frame the recent research project to exclude the human and environmental health impacts of so-called food contaminants?" he asked. 

By Daily Mail Reporter, 14 June 2011 - http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18730.cfm

They're wonderfully shiny and come in delightful shades of red, green and yellow -- but apples top the contaminated by pesticides list says a new report. In contrast, onions hardly scream 'I'm beautiful and delicious' in a store's fruit and veg section, but they are the cleanest. The seventh annual Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce report from the Environmental Working Group details contamination by pesticides and fungicides in fruit and vegetables.

According to researchers at Purdue University in Indiana, apples now top the list as the most contaminated by pesticides, even after they are peeled and washed. Apples jumped three spots from last year, bumping celery to number two. Strawberries are the third most contaminated fruit and veg and other popular fruits such as grapes, blueberries are not that far behind. The agency said the goal of the report is to help consumers make smarter choices when they are browsing along the produce aisles.

Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst at EWG, said: 'Pesticides are toxic. They are designed to kill things and most are not good for you. 'The question is, how bad are they?' The researchers came to their conclusions after analysing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration from 2000 to 2009.

Each produce item received a score based on how many pesticides were found in the testing and at what levels. Most fruit and vegetable samples were washed and peeled, if necessary, before testing. That way the chemical readings closely reflect the levels present when the produce is consumed, the report said. Apples gained the top spot this year after pesticides were found on 98 per cent of the more than 700 samples tested.

Researchers recommend that consumers get around the problem by choosing organic. However, one food sciences professor cautions that a natural or organic label on produce doesn't automatically make it safe, edmonton.ctv.ca reports. Rick Holley, of the University of Manitoba, said: 'The E.coli outbreak in Germany clearly shows locally grown organic produce was able to kill 35 people.'

By Sarah Tomley, November 26th, 2009 - http://sarah-tomley.suite101.com/which-fruits-are-safe-to-eat-a174067

You can cut the amount of pesticide you eat or drink by up to 80% if you choose to eat the least-contaminated fruits - this means knowing which fruits to buy ...

In Europe, almost half of all the fruits, vegetables and cereals sold in 2008 were contaminated with pesticides(1). Every day in the US, 610,000 children aged from one to five eat a dose of neurotoxic organophosphate insecticides (OPs) that the US government (and many others) judge to be unsafe (2). This situation is echoed, and often worse, in other countries around the world.

And some of the fruits and vegetables with the highest level of pesticides are those we eat the most. The average westerner consumes over 11kg of apples each year, and 98% of those apples have pesticides on them (the average apple has four different pesticides on its skin) (3). Fruit juice is no better – 98% of apple juice and 96% of peach juice has been found to contain pesticides (4).

Apples

Apples provide very little in the way of nutrients, but their pesticide load is extremely high – in fact they are the third most contaminated fruit or vegetable, after peaches and nectarines. More than half of those 610,000 US children who are exposed to an dangerous dose of OP insecticides each day get it from eating either an apple, apple juice, or apple sauce (4).

A child has a 50:50 chance of eating an apple with nine pesticides on it. And you can't wash these off – in 1995 and in 1996, USDA technicians washed apple samples before retesting, to find up to 12 pesticides and breakdown products still on them. Almost any fruit on the least-contaminated list would make a great substitute for a non-organic apple – try papayas, mangoes and kiwis.

Strawberries

These are high in vitamin C, but consistently test positive for high levels of fungicides, including captan and iprodione (which are classified by the US Environmental Protection Agency as probable human carcinogens) and vinclozolin (a hormone disruptor).Strawberries are also routinely contaminated with endosulfan, a chemical relative of DDT which interferes with normal hormone function. Possible substitutes for strawberries that have far lower pesticide residues include raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and kiwi fruits.

Cherries

Cherries have little nutritional value but they are wildly delicious, and children love them. Some countries use far fewer pesticides than farmers in the US, so try to buy cherries from Europe, Australia or Africa. Better still, persuade the kids to eat blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, oranges, kiwis or watermelon.

Peaches and Nectarines

These delicious soft fruits provide some vitamin A and C, but little else on the good side. However, they often contain large amounts of the carcinogenic fungicides captan and iprodione, together with the neurotoxic pesticide methyl parathion. These are best bought organic or avoided altogether – but alarmingly, the unapproved pesticide fludioxonil was found on organic peaches from California (5). If you need to substitute for a recipe, use oranges, papayas, or kiwis.

Grapes

Grapes are one of the worst offenders. These fruits are high in vitamin K and manganese, but often contain a high load of carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting fungicides. Analysis of table grapes bought from 18 major food retailers across Europe revealed illegal and unsafe pesticides on grapes on sale to consumers – 99% of the grapes on sale contained pesticides, many with links to cancer, infertility, nerve damage, hormonal disruption and DNA mutations (5). The USDA Pesticide Data Program found that 32% of tested raisins contained the carcinogenic pesticide Pyraclostrobin. Buy organic, or wash very vigorously in soapy water then rinse, or switch to eating low-risk kiwis, blueberries or bananas.

Pears

Pears are high in vitamin C, omega-6 fatty acids and fibre, but have found to be contaminated with the following pesticides: carbendazim, chlormequat, dithiocarbamates, tolylfluanid and captan. Chlormequat is not approved for use on pears grown in the UK, but is used in other European countries. In recent surveys, around 40% of pears tested showed signs of more than one kind of pesticide. Try using less-contaminated tropical fruit instead, such as papayas, mangoes and kiwis.

The Cleanest Fruits

This is a list of the cleanest fruits (showing least pesticide residues), taken from the Environmental Working Group's full table.The values are based on 100 for fruit/vegetables with the worst pesticide load (apples), to 1 for the fruit/vegetables with the lowest pesticide load (onions and avocados).

Fruits with pesticide values of less than 10:

• pineapple

• mango

Fruits with pesticide values of less than 10-20:

• kiwi

• papaya

Fruits with pesticide values of 20-30:

• watermelon

• grapefruit

Find out more:

The 12 Most Contaminated Fruits and Vegetables

Which Vegetables Are Safe to Eat?

References:

1. “PAN Europe announces highest ever levels of pesticides in foods”, included in “Pesticide Action Network Annual Report 2008” p.9.

2. US Department of Agriculture, Pesticide Analysis 1996

3. "A is for Apple, P is for Pesticide", New Internationalist, 323, May 2000.

4. From USDA food consumption data 1989-1996, USDA and FDA pesticide residue data 1991- 1997, and U.S. EPA 1998a and U.S. EPA 1998b.

5. "Pesticides in your peaches: Tribune and USDA studies find pesticides, some in excess of EPA rules, in the fragrant fruit"' Chicago Tribune, 12 August 2009

6. Analysis of 124 grape samples from leading supermarkets conducted by six European environmental organisations: Greenpeace (Germany), Milieudefensie (Netherlands), MDRGF (France), Legambiente (Italy), Levego Munkacsoport (Hungary) and Pesticide Action Network (Europe).