are you ever going to stop killing the bees? I wouldnt like to die

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Friday, 15/05/2015 16:51

Paul Driessen, Senior Policy Analyst, Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), has previously answered a similar question here. His answer is below.

 

“The scientific community recognizes that bee health is a very complex issue. In fact, a report from the proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences indicated that bees may be dying not from a single toxin or disease, but rather from a variety of factors that include introduced pests and parasites, microbial diseases, inadequate diet and loss of genetic diversity. In its assessment of neonicotinoid insecticides, the Environmental Protection Agency stated that it ‘is not aware of any data indicating that honey bee declines or the incidence of CCD [colony collapse disorder] in the U.S. is correlated with the use of pesticides in general or with the use of neonicotinoids in particular.’ Modern seed treatments reduce the amount of insecticides in the environment and target pesticides only at the insects that are actually feeding on food crops, thus protecting other, often beneficial insects, including bees. Moreover, even though seed treatments make neonicotinoids part of the plant, the amount reaching bees in pollen grains is extremely tiny and not thought to be a factor in CCD or bee mortality.”

 

In addition, Chris Sansone, Global Regulatory Affairs Manager – Insect Resistance Management (Americas), Bayer, highlighted a 2001 review by Malone and Pham-Delègue (2001) looking at seven studies on GMOs and their impact on honey bees. Their conclusion was that “Bt transgene products are very likely to be safe for honey bees and bumblebees.” He also noted one large study, by Duan et al. (2008), which looked at 25 different studies and concluded that “the Bt Cry proteins used in genetically modified crops for control of caterpillar and beetle pests do not negatively affect the survival of honey bee larvae or adults in the laboratory.” You can read his discussion of other studies here.