are we getting worried about this yet?

[pourfarmer]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/ontario-bee-
farmer-hoping-for-pesticide-ban-to-end-die-off-
1.1354729#ixzz2YH23L1Gc

One the bees are gone Im sure one of those bioteh
companys will come up with a synthetic pollinator
and only charge a small tech fee for their research....
ya that sounds good! Synthetic is way better then
natural anyway, easier to regulate and control,
definetly easier to monetise

[ado089]

This is a very serious problem, but it's
important to maintain focus so that it
gets resolved instead of politicized. A
few points:
1) nicotine has been used as a pesticide
for centuries, and is still on your
precious OMRI list. Let's remember that
when we start banning stuff. Nicotinoids
are also produced naturally by several
plants.

2) colony collapse is a world wide
problem even in parts of the world that
don't heavily rely on the blamed
products.

3) the guy claimed the bee die off
started at planting. Given the nature of
bees and the product, also providing you
buy into these products persisting, you
not expect to see bee mortality until
flowering.

4) most of the world's honey bees are
one species. I know I can't just grow
one crop and expect it to be
sustainable, maybe it's time honey
producers look at diversifying their
populations a little bit.

Colony collapse is huge problem for
society and I believe a lot more needs
to be done to get to the bottom of it
but naively pointing at the "easy"
target isn't constructive over the long
term. Spend the money allocate the
resources and solve the problem. At the
end of the day if there is solid
evidence, ban the product, but anecdotes
and conjecture are not evidence. Or just
give us back lindane, it worked better
anyways

[ado089]

Also if the link is suspected are the
bee management practice that could
mitigate exposure.

[Horse]

Why worry just spray some more chemical. That makes the earth worms bigger and thicker and the birds more plentiful, so I am told by the chem farmers.So that should fix the bee problem also.
There was a bird study done and they found our bird population is in serious trouble, of course they dont know what they are talking about, dam birds are to lazy to disperce because some of you on agriville said you have more than ever?while the rest of us have almost none. I used to have mabey hundreds or barn swollows line up on the power lines now 1 pair. Officals say an 80% decline in numbers I can agree.

[ado089]

Very constructive horse. No one likes
spraying anymore than necessary. Barn
swallows don't like to nest on steel
structures, this is well documented.
Perhaps while we're banning stuff we can
make it mandatory to use wooden bins.

[wilagro]

I have a wooden barn. Last three years...ONE pair of barn swallows only. They usually build their nest under my stuccoed house eaves now...for some reason. Used to have at least 5 or 8 pairs. Canada-wide phenomena apparently.

No doves and for some reason...no pigeons for the first time in 25 years.

Hummingbirds...only two pair this year...no bluebirds, no American goldfinch so far. No night-hawks for past 6 or 7 years. Fewer red-tailed hawks...only two seen this year total.

[ado089]

The last few years we've had doves by
the flock, could care less if I ever saw
a pigeon again but they are there. Lots
of humming birds and finch and assorted
others. the hawks I agree do seen fewer
but far from gone. I feel this year the
bush seems healthier than ever as a
result so does the bird population. It's
mighty green out there for July on the
prairies. If you are seeing less birds
take a look around, I bet you find less
habitat too.

[cottonpicken]

Can we all agree the blackbird should be
eliminated,lol.

[HappyFarmer]

I'm with cotton, and I'll ad magpies to the list! LOL

[fjlip]

Crows, magpies and kestrels, noisy bastards.

[greybeard]

I think the population of nest robbers like crows,ravens,magpies,blue jays,etc. is 50 times what it was when kids used to patrol the farm with a 22.
They can sit all day watching where momma goes home. Nothing to fear.
I had never seen a cowbird till 15 years ago.
Way more foxes and coyote.

[seabass]

I agree greybeard. More nuisance birds around less
of the kind we dont mind. F'n ravens, garbage dump
turkeys.