Seed Treatment -bee link study?

[furrowtickler]

Chucky, as per canola yes - all seed has a polymre coating. In fact it takes soil moisture to break down these coatings to release any insecticide. Some of the most advanced seed coating polymre's in the world are done on canola here in Canada.
Again when was the last time you seeded canola??

[furrowtickler]

As to how effective they are, polymre coatings reduce "dusting" off by at least 95% compared to stand alone seed treatments. This study is probably based on seed treatments from the early 1990's and before that.

[chuckChuck]

Several of the previous posts are glaring examples of ignorance by self declared experts who seem to think they know everything. Instead of showing your ignorance, try keeping an open mind to the fact you may not have all the answers.

[ado089]

Ignorance is taking one data set without
any context and declaring a thesis. At
best the data you've presented suggest
correlation but does nothing to support
causality. The reality of the situation
is that bees have been dying off in mass
in all corners of the world for decades
and no one knows why. It's simply the
chic thing to do now to blame all the
world's whoes on corporations and
technology instead of taking personal
responsibility for individual actions.

Countinuing on the theme of critical
thought let's consider the dose per
area, the lethal does per individual
and the vector for intake and the time
of exposure for any area and this thesis
becomes pretty weak. But let's for a
moment pretend its true, perhaps this is
a bee management problem not a canola
management problem.

By the way I have three letters after my
name that imply I'm more of an expert on
this subject matter than than some
bohunk with the interweb and too much
time on their hands.

[furrowtickler]

I have been involved in the canola seed industry for 20 years. I have seen most of the canola seed treatments that have ever been offered. I spent 11 years at a seed treating and coating facility and have personaly seen the advances in polymre coatings. So you may think i may be not educated with this issue - try me.
Again what do you know first hand on this issue? How long have you been growing canola and how many different seed treatments in canola have you handled to become a spokesperson on this bee issue?
Ignorance is those who sit in the peanut gallery and spout little of what they know or have first hand experience with.

[TOM4CWB]

Chuckchuck,

"Several of the previous posts are glaring examples of
ignorance by self declared experts who seem to think
they know everything. "

I read the problem is with Corn... you were targeting
Canola... what did I miss?

Do you grow Canola?

Do you have bees?

We do...

and last year we went through this same topic...

with it being clear from experience....

If you are worried... and have Bees... Keep your bees
locked up and out of neighbours fields...during Canola
seeding.

This is NOT rocket science!

Cheers!

Background:
Peter L Borst (03/29/2012 at 7:47 AM)
These studies overlook the real world experiences of
beekeepers and seed treated crops:

Canola is grown commercially mostly on the prairies in
Canada. In 2008, 16.6 million acres (6.6 million ha)
were planted and the acreage is expanding. There are
52,000 canola producers. Canada is the largest single
producer of canola in the world.

Commercially grown canola is predominantly a prairie
crop. It is so common that 80% of Canadaâs honey
crop is from canola. This amounts to 50 million lb per
year of Grade No 1 white honey.

Approximately 300,000 colonies harvest open
pollinated canola. The expanding hybrid seed
production industry, where farmers produce seed
under contract to the seed companies, required
80,000 colonies in 2008 for pollination in southern
Alberta.

Most canola seeds are now treated with systemic
insecticides such as Gaucho (imidacloprid), PonchoÂ
(chlothianidin) or Helix (thiamethoxan). Although
there is an expressed concern by many beekeepers
around the world about the use of systemics, the
experience in Canada is that we have had 10 years of
large scale use on canola with no observed ill effect.

Pollinating Hybrid Canola - the Southern Alberta
Experience
Heather Clay, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Honey
Council, Calgary, AB

[chuckChuck]

Many of you have already decided that canola seed treatments have no negative impact. Wrong. Read the research.

Current research at the U of S shows that chemicals that are used as canola seed treatments are in fact found in the environment in Western Canada.
"Direct and indirect effects of pesticides on avian communities using agricultural wetlands with special emphasis on the neonicotinoid insecticides widely used in the Prairies" Dr. Christy Morrissey.

By the way this was reported on CTV News and will be used in the PMRA's riview.

Canola growers have to realize that Canola has alot of disadvantages
one of them being that it requires alot of insecticides. If you didn't already know, most insecticides are neuro- toxins. Perhaps that explains in part why so many of you are in denial!

You may think that it is okay to to be poisoned by insecticides, put some in your coffee if you want, but keep it away from my land and family.