Ministry investigates reports of bee die-offs

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

by DAVE PINK

Ontario’s honeybee population came through the winter fairly well, says Paul Kozac, chief apiarist with the provincial Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs.

But there were some isolated reports of bee die-off throughout southern Ontario that are still being investigated, he adds.

“On one hand, the province’s apiaries came out quite well. There was a high level of winter survival,” says Kozac.

But those reports of bee die-offs are cause for concern, he added. “We’re in the early stages of investigation. We’re taking things seriously, but we want to have all the data first.”

UPDATE John Van Alten, president of the Ontario Beekeepers Association, said that over the previous six or so years the winter die-off rate for the province’s honeybees averaged between 30 and 40 per cent. But this year, early estimates indicate that only about 10 per cent of Ontario’s honeybees died over the winter.  

“The bees overwintered remarkably well,” he says. “But there’s always some little dark clouds.”
Van Alten said that those reports of heavy die-off came during corn-planting season, and there may be a link between some types of air-planters and their exhaust fumes. “But that’s all speculation at this point,” he said.  END OF UPDATE

His Their comments came after a Health Canada report on bee mortality in Quebec established a link to the pesticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam.

According to the incident report, a high level of bee die-off was seen in a group of 25 bee colonies in the Montérégie region of Québec. The bee hives were surrounded by corn and soybean fields, and that the die-off occurred during planting

Clothianidin and thiamethoxam are conditionally registered in Canada for use as a seed treatment, foliar spray and as an in-furrow applications to control insects. These are systemic pesticides, which are taken up by the plant's leaves or roots and circulated through the plant.

The report concluded it is “highly probable” that exposure to clothianidin or thiamethoxam —or fenitrothion, a pesticide that is no longer registered for use — caused the bee mortality in this incident. Residues of clothianidin, thiamethoxam and fenitrothion were found in dead bees and that these compounds are known to be highly toxic to bees. BF