06-19-2013, 05:41 PM
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/in...pi.html#/0
Excerpt: "An estimated 25,000 bumblebees were found dead and dying in a Target parking lot in Wilsonville beginning Saturday, the largest known incident of bumblebee deaths in the United States according to the Xerces Society.
Reports of bees and other bugs falling out of blooming European linden trees and littering the ground reached the Portland-based Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation on Monday.
Dan Hilburn, director of plant programs at the Oregon Department of Agriculture, arrived at the site Wednesday to begin assessing the damage.
"I've never encountered anything quite like it in 30 years in the business," Hilburn said.
The bumblebees were mostly found under 55 linden trees in the parking lot of the Argyle Square Target. While no laboratory tests have confirmed the findings, Hilburn said initial information indicates the trees were sprayed on Saturday with an insecticide called Safari.
On Wednesday, dead bumblebees were still clinging to linden flowers and hundreds were scattered on the ground. The yellow-faced bees fell from the trees, twitching on their backs or wandering in tight circles on the asphalt. Some honeybees and ladybugs were also found dead.
Safari is part of the neonicotinoid pesticide family, which are systemic chemicals that make the entire plant toxic to almost all insects. The product's label warns that it is "highly toxic" to bees and tells applicators not to apply it "if bees are visiting the area."
The European Union recently issued a two-year ban on three varieties of neonicotinoids because of concerns about their effects on bees. The type used in Safari was not among those banned. U.S. activists have also called for more regulation of the insecticides.
Bumblebees play a crucial role in pollinating berries, flowers and other plants.
ODA is working with the Xerces Society to prevent the now-poisonous trees from killing more insects.
Three of the most viable solutions are to put up netting around the trees, strip the trees of their flowers and leaves or find non-toxic repellents to keep bees and insects from eating the leaves or nectar.
"Bumblebees are the single most important natural pollinator in Oregon," said Mace Vaughan, the Xerces Society' pollinator program director.
The bumblebee deaths mark an inauspicious start to National Pollinator Week, which runs through June 23."
Excerpt: "An estimated 25,000 bumblebees were found dead and dying in a Target parking lot in Wilsonville beginning Saturday, the largest known incident of bumblebee deaths in the United States according to the Xerces Society.
Reports of bees and other bugs falling out of blooming European linden trees and littering the ground reached the Portland-based Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation on Monday.
Dan Hilburn, director of plant programs at the Oregon Department of Agriculture, arrived at the site Wednesday to begin assessing the damage.
"I've never encountered anything quite like it in 30 years in the business," Hilburn said.
The bumblebees were mostly found under 55 linden trees in the parking lot of the Argyle Square Target. While no laboratory tests have confirmed the findings, Hilburn said initial information indicates the trees were sprayed on Saturday with an insecticide called Safari.
On Wednesday, dead bumblebees were still clinging to linden flowers and hundreds were scattered on the ground. The yellow-faced bees fell from the trees, twitching on their backs or wandering in tight circles on the asphalt. Some honeybees and ladybugs were also found dead.
Safari is part of the neonicotinoid pesticide family, which are systemic chemicals that make the entire plant toxic to almost all insects. The product's label warns that it is "highly toxic" to bees and tells applicators not to apply it "if bees are visiting the area."
The European Union recently issued a two-year ban on three varieties of neonicotinoids because of concerns about their effects on bees. The type used in Safari was not among those banned. U.S. activists have also called for more regulation of the insecticides.
Bumblebees play a crucial role in pollinating berries, flowers and other plants.
ODA is working with the Xerces Society to prevent the now-poisonous trees from killing more insects.
Three of the most viable solutions are to put up netting around the trees, strip the trees of their flowers and leaves or find non-toxic repellents to keep bees and insects from eating the leaves or nectar.
"Bumblebees are the single most important natural pollinator in Oregon," said Mace Vaughan, the Xerces Society' pollinator program director.
The bumblebee deaths mark an inauspicious start to National Pollinator Week, which runs through June 23."