HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0507.002 2012-2014 comments on Comm. 507 re. bees
for Hawai'i County Council Committee on Agriculture, Water and Energy Sustainability
1:00 PM Tuesday, December 17, 2013, Hilo chambers
by Cory Harden, PO Box 10265, Hilo. Occupied Hawai'i 96721 808-959-7747 mh @interpac.net
Thank you to Margaret Wille for requesting this presentation, and to County Council and the State
Department of Agriculture. I hope to hear ideas for addressing the many threats to bees on our island.
We can't do without bees--they pollinate most of the 100 crops that provide most of the world's food.
But bees on our island face many threats, as do bees worldwide. In the past decade, beekeepers, mostly
in the U.S. and Europe, lost more hives than normal--almost one-third of the hives every year. And this
winter, half the hives were lost in some places. Growers had to scramble to find enough bees for the
"largest pollinator event" in the country—fertilizing California almond trees. The American Beekeeping
Federation says there is also a decline in the quality of bees.(1J
A United Nations (UN) report says threats to bees include
• chemicals used in agriculture, singly or in "cocktails" COUNTY CLERK
• pathogens transported by international trade COUNTY OF HAWAI'I
• fewer flowering plants because of inadequate conservation efforts RECEIVED
• climate change affecting flowering times and rainfall patterns Time 1 Oa ,m. By
• air pollution Date /211711-b
• electromagnetic fields
A U.S. government report also cites
• the Varroa mite, the single largest cause of colony losses in the U.S. and elsewhere
• loss of genetic diversity; many U.S. honeybees are descended from fewer than 600 queens
• monocropping, which reduces the range of available nutrients
Neonicotinoids are in the news now. They're most widely used insecticides in the world, but were found to
be a "high acute risk"[2]to pollinators by the European Food Safety Agency. So this month the European
Commission banned several types of neonicotinoids for two years. BASF, Bayer and Syngenta are trying
to overturn the ban.
In the U.S., beekeepers and environmental groups filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA)to suspend use of two neonicotinoids. Congress took up a bill to suspend some uses of
neonicotinoids until the EPA can study their effects on bees. And Oregon banned one type of
neonicotinoid after it was sprayed and 50.000 bumblebees died. [3]
I look forward to hearing how these threats affect bees on our island, and how the threats can be
addressed.
[1]Declining Bee Populations Pose a Threat to Global Agriculture, Environment 360, 4-30-13,
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/declining bee populations poses threat to global agriculture/26451
[2]European Food Safety Agency quoted in Declining Bee Populations Pose a Threat to Global
Agriculture, Environment 360, 4-30-13,
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/declining bee populations pose a threat to global agriculture/2645/
[3]EPA quoted in 'Accused of Harming Bees, Bayer Researches a Different Culprit', New York Times,
12-11-13, http.//www.nytimes.com/2013/12/12/business/energv-environment/accused-of-harminq-bees-
bayer-researches-a-different-culprit.html? r=0
Comm. No. 5°7. °2
Ref. To: PmweSG
Ref. Date DEC 17 2013