A WARNING ABOUT THE INJURY CAUSED BY PESTICIDES IN BEES AND MELIPONICULTURE IN BRAZIL
Lionel Segui Gonçalves. Professor retired from USP, Current National Teacher Visiting Senior CAPES-MEC by the UFERSA, Mossoro-RN.
Article published in the Journal of Post Sweet Apacame In 123: http://www.apacame.org.br/mensagemdoce/123/artigo.htm
Bees are disappearing, at high risk of life and need to be urgently protected. The disappearance of bees is today the world's leading bee problem, including being the cover of issue “Time”, August 2013. Bees are responsible for pollinating more than 70% agricultural areas that provide food to the world, besides contributing to the flora pollination in general, increasing the resilience of green areas that guarantee the oxygen. Albert Einstein, the most famous scientist of the century 20, Nobel Prize in Physics 1921, a catastrophic vision, He predicted in his time, that the bees a day disappear from the earth, the man would have just a few more years of life. This prophecy has foundations, and the hypothesis may turn out to be confirmed, if humanity does not become aware in time and mobilize in the opposite direction, because the bees are indeed disappearing, as beekeepers warn the media has been reporting.
Due to the presence of pests on crops, farmers avail themselves of many pesticides that endanger the lives of bees. It is known that there are other less toxic to bees categories, It is applied in the field against pests, can bring good results to farmers without harming the bees. With time, however, many of these products fail to produce the desired effect against pests, They end up developing resistance. This leads industries to develop other products, more efficient and strong, however toxic to bees.
With the expansion of agricultural activities to meet the growing demand for food production in the world, pesticide use has increased, and the time for research and development of new products not harmful to bees becomes increasingly short. Unfortunately, many farmers are concerned at first on solving the specific problem of pest control, ignoring the harmful effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on the health of pollinating insects (bees, wasps, mamangavas etc.) and for your own business. They forget that these same pollinators work by increasing the productivity of their crops.
Brazil is now one of the largest consumers of pesticides, which ensures big profits for multinational companies that produce them. Ideally, these same neonicotinoid pesticide manufacturers also give heed to develop research on the biological control of pests of plants or the production of non-toxic pesticides to bees. This would bring solutions with very positive benefits, both for farmers and for beekeepers and beekeepers, deserving the recognition of environmentalists and society in general – already concerned about the consumption of organic products but, at least resulting from sustainable agriculture. We know that both solutions are possible, but require a lot of research and tests that require time and high costs until they are effectively implemented. Against, we know that companies prioritize the production of products that yield increasing profits in the shortest time possible, enforcing the old motto “time is money “. The probability, therefore, See investment in green solutions is very small.
Worried, because, to ensure the continuity of sales of systemic pesticides, some companies have launched campaigns labeled as supporting the health of pollinators, including stating that neonicotinoids are not harmful to bees, and that only in cases of excessive doses or doses applied inappropriately occur losses and, eventually, the death of bees. The use of these products by unsuspecting farmers justify the many instances of bee deaths, reported in the international media, and the phenomenon of “Vanishing of the Bees” ou CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) It is increasingly linked to the application of toxic pesticides to bees.
We believe that only drastic decisions ban the use or ban of these systemic products, especially those from the group of neonicotinoids, will solve the problem of the disappearance and, consequently, the death of bees. Every day brings new research proving its harmful effect on bees (Desneux, Decourtye and Delpuech, 2007; Ratia, 2008; Ritter, 2011; Gonçalves, 2012; Pettis, 2011; Lu et al., 2012).
It is scientifically proven that neonicotinoid pesticides act on the physiology of bees, interfering in its memory and behavior. Surveys of Apis mellifera point to the action of these pesticides in your brain, causing the worker bees, after the activities of foraging, can not return to their home colonies (Desneux, Decourtye and Delpuech, 2007; Silva et al., 2012; Henry et al., 2012; Lu et al., 2012; Whitehorn et al., 2012 ). For that reason, a beekeeper, when opening a hive whose bees have had contact with these highly toxic pesticides, are beehives with few bees or empty, because bees simply “disappear”, without a trace. It is the CCD syndrome (Colony Collapse Disorder) or “Disappearance of the disease” (Disappearing disease) or simply “Syndrome Disappearance”, features easily identified in strong and populous hives that are found in a few days without bees, but with offspring, mel, pollen and even Queen.
In recent international conference Beekeeping Apimondia (France, 2009 e Argentina, 2011) there was huge interest in the topic and solutions. It has often been the presentation of research findings trying to relate the mite Varroa destructor, microsporídeo the Nosema ceranae, various types of viruses, stress and pesticides to the CCD phenomenon. Among the possible causes, in particular, the neonicotinoid pesticides, which are systemic, They have increasingly been identified as toxic to bees and responsible for their disappearance.
Bees affected by the use of neonicotinoids are the navigation and guidance system compromised. You disoriented, they are lost or disappear in the field, not returning to their hives, which explains the phenomenon designation as “Vanishing of the Bees”. The phenomenon is recurrent and has been registered in different countries, associated with significant losses and economic losses to beekeepers and farmers, currently the world's leading bee problem (Pettis, 2011; Boer, 2013). The first reports date from 2006, US us, when American beekeepers reported losses 30 a 90% of their hives. De lá the cá, several other occurrences were registered in the US, Europe, Canada, Japan, India, América do Sul etc., including Brazil. One of the most recent cases of significant loss of bees due to neonicotinoid pesticide action was published in the Canadian news “Fractured Paradigm”, in 2/7/2013, in which it was reported that beekeeper David Schuit the, de Elmwood, lost 600 bee colonies, soon after a maize crop in a field near his apiary have been treated with a neonicotinoid pesticide.
A major contribution of bees to agriculture is, no doubt, their role in pollination of plants. To illustrate the order of magnitude of the issue, US only, the value of investments in crops that depend on pollination by bees is estimated at over 15 billion, and only in almond pollination in California are used over 1,4 million hives of Apis mellifera. With the recent problem of the disappearance of bees the United States already resent the lack of bee colonies for pollination, with serious consequences for agricultural production. For that reason, released in the US Senate 2011 a sum of US $ 76 millions of dollars to American scientists, as a contribution to solve the problem and, more recently, private businesses, such as Haagen-Dazs ice cream maker, passed also collaborating with funds to sponsor research on bees.
Also concerned about the problems arising from the decline of pollinators, especially bees, para a agricultura, the European Union released on 2012 more than 3 million Euros to foster research on the CCD in 17 countries of the European community. The issue is urgent, and their causes are topics for research, polemics and scientific debate. Different hypotheses are being considered by researchers, but there are already plenty of evidence that the main cause of the disappearance of bees phenomenon is related to the toxicity of neonicotinoids pesticides. Given that, in 29/4/2013, the European Community (CCE), to protect pollinators to prevent falls in food production, banned from member countries, for two years, use of three pesticides from the group of neonicotinoids, considered highly toxic to bees: CLOTHIANIDINE (Poncho), Imidocloprid (Gaucho) and THIOMETHOXAM (Cruisier).
In Brazil, now the world's largest consumer of pesticides, only 2010 They have been marketed over 1 million tons of pesticides (5 kg / inhabitant), including neonicotinoids. Although the occurrence of CCD in Apis mellifera has already been registered in the country since 2008 in several Brazilian states (SP, SC, RS) is, more recently, They were registered some cases of occurrence of CCD in stingless bees (meliponínenos) in the state of Sao Paulo, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Supply (MAP), the Ministry of Environment (MMA) and IBAMA continue without position on this subject. According to Prof.. Dr. Osmar Malaspina, Claro Rio de UNESP, one of the first cases of loss of bees in Brazil took place in Brotas-SP when a beekeeper has lost more than 200 Africanized bee colonies in an orange culture, after this been sprayed with the pesticide Thiomethoxam. Only in the municipality of Rio Claro-SP, o Dr. Reported the loss of Malaspina 10 thousand hives of Africanized bees killed by insecticides between 2008 is 2010 (France, 2012). The CBA-Brazilian Confederation of Beekeeping has already expressed officially by the MAP, MMA and IBAMA against the use of neonicotinoids (opinion of the CBA published in Sweet Message, N. 119, November 2012), But so far these institutions still missing, getting beekeepers and Brazilian beekeepers without support, and the bees without protection against the toxic action of neonicotinoid pesticides widely used in the country.
The EFSA European organization, controlling food safety in Europe, identified in 4/6/2013 several weaknesses in the study published by the Agency on the neonicotinoids in the UK for Research on Food and Environment (WILL), whereby neonicotinoid pesticides did not cause adverse effect on carpenter bees (bumblebees) under field conditions. Based on these points, EFSA reconsidered his position, not only confirming there is no risk to bees in the use of the neonicotinoid group of pesticides already mentioned (Thiamethoxan, Clothianidin e o Imidacloprid), but also demonstrating against the use of such pesticides in European farming.
It should also be noted that the European Community – which had already been banned in 29/4/2013 the use of the three neonicotinoid pesticides – He gave another demonstration of being attentive to the decline of bees, having banned in mid-July 2013, the use of more highly toxic pesticide bees, o Fipronil (Regent), the group of phenylpyrazoles, endorsed by decision 23 European countries members of the CCE. Like this, from that prohibition, It will no longer be allowed treating corn seed and sunflower seed with the pesticide Fipronil. With these decisions, It recognizes the constant worry and commendable attitude of the European authorities to protect Europe in the future of pollinators, especially bees, and the future production of fruits and grains, which unfortunately has not happened in Brazil. In mid- 2013, the Agriculture Committee, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development of the House of Representatives approved a project in Brasilia, reported by Mr Duarte Nogueira de Ribeirão Preto – SP, to repeal an ordinance IBAMA which regulates the use of neonicotinoids in Brazil (Journal Agrosoft, from 15/7/2013). Although this agenda should still be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, as a matter of fact, what should be approved is the ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in Brazil, not the withdrawal of IBAMA Ordinance only regulates time-limited their use.
The phenomenon of the disappearance of bees poses a high risk to the world beekeeping and international agribusiness, since all agricultural production worldwide related to grain and fruit depends on pollination, mainly, by bees. Like this, based on the arguments presented throughout this article, -ended or, warning everyone that if we do not witness a strong and courageous decision to ban the use and definitive ban on toxic pesticides to bees of our crops, especially the ban on neonicotinoids and Fipronil, by the Brazilian authorities (Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of the Environment, Ibama, etc.), as well as conserve the infamy of being one of the largest consumers of pesticides, regrettably we will see the continued disappearance of bees in Brazil and its consequences for the environment, to food security man, for the sustainability of life.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
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