The birds and the bees
Saturday, February 9, 2008 4:33 PM PST
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2007, The Daily News ran
articles concerning the disappearance of bees, crop pollinators and songbirds. Farmers are becoming alarmed that there will not be enough bees around to pollinate their crops. These crops are our food supply. So what is happening to the bees? A look at our lifestyles gives us the answer.
Our dependence on chemicals permeates every aspect of our lives. Walk through garden supply departments and see rows and rows of chemicals. When citizens douse their lawns and gardens with pesticides to try to have the greenest lawn or the prettiest flowers in the neighborhood, they use chemicals that are toxic to bees.
In our pursuit of perfect produce, farmers spread pesticides, which are considered highly toxic to bees. Even the city of Longview spreads pesticides around the city and our parks to control the aphids and leaf miners, which irritate our residents. The pesticide in this case, is Imidacloprid, which was outlawed in France because of its toxicity to bees. This chemical stays in the soil for months and, in some cases, years. Even small amounts will disorient bees to the extent that they cannot find their way back to their hives. The bees also lose the ability to groom themselves, exposing them to mite and virus infestation and death.
Imidacloprid is applied to the soil within a tree's drip-line, where it is absorbed by the root system and then spreads to the leaves and flowers where bees forage. Imidacloprid is not just absorbed by the target trees, but by any flower or plant growing in the soil where it is applied. Even clover, which grows under the trees becomes deadly to the bees which forage there. Imidacloprid also is toxic to earthworms, which live in the soil and to fish if it enters the storm water that drains into our lakes, streams and rivers.
Our songbirds also are affected by pesticide use. Research has shown that birds which eat insects which have eaten pesticides become sick and in many cases, die. At one time DDT was thought to be safe, until many years elapsed and we discovered how detrimental it was to the environment and the creatures living in it. A single pesticide may not be the final straw, but the cumulative effect can be devastating.
Recently, the Longview City Council created an Environmental Policies Document, which is a good beginning. It calls for reduction in the use of fertilizer and water in our parks, but there was no mention of pesticide use.
Each of us can help curb a natural catastrophe (and a potential risk to human health) by not applying pesticides to our own yards or farms and also by calling your City Council members to ask them to stop using chemicals, which are threatening our birds and bees. There are more environmentally safe ways to deal with harmful insects. Information can be found on the Internet or at your county extension office.
Remember, pesticides cannot distinguish "good" bugs from "bad" bugs.
John Green
is a Longview resident.
Bee Smart wrote on Feb 10, 2008 2:52 PM:
Use common sense, and maybe use some slug bait the proper way and we will all be okay. "
if you say it enough times... wrote on Feb 11, 2008 1:35 PM:
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