FRANKFORT, Ky. — In May the U.S. EPA issued a notice in the Federal Registry of its Proposal to Mitigate Exposure to Bees from Acutely Toxic Pesticide Products, "seeking comment on a proposal to adopt mandatory pesticide label restrictions to protect managed bees under contract pollination services from foliar applications of pesticides that are acutely toxic to bees on a contact exposure basis."
Comments on the plan have been extended a second time, with a deadline of Aug. 28. The EPA cites multiple requests from stakeholders as being the reason for this.
Bee safety has been on the feds’ watch list over the past year, mostly because of a Presidential Memorandum that authorized a White House Task Force co-chaired by the secretary of agriculture and the administrator of the EPA to take a definitive look at the issue of pollinator health. Prior to passage of the 2008 farm bill, pollinators began to experience drastic losses – some beekeepers were losing as many as 40 percent of their bees.
That legislation, along with the 2014 farm bill, contained language to authorize pollinator research programs. The EPA stated: "These label restrictions would prohibit applications of pesticide products, which are acutely toxic to bees, during bloom when bees are known to be present under contract.
"EPA is also seeking comment on a proposal to rely on efforts made by states and tribes to reduce pesticide exposures through development of locally based measures, specifically through managed pollinator protection plans."
One particular comment left so far seems to downplay bee colony losses: "The proposed rule is based on an assumption that honeybee populations are dropping. However, the USDA’s data does not support that. In fact, U.S. colony numbers have been rising in recent years and stable for the last decade. Globally, numbers of bee colonies have been on the rise for more than 20 years in South America and Africa, and are up dramatically in Asia over the same period."
That rise may be true in other countries but according to the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service: "The total number of managed honeybee colonies has decreased from 5 million in the 1940s to only 2.5 million today. At the same time, the call for hives to provide pollination services has continued to increase."
In a USDA report issued last May, it is noted losses of managed honeybee colonies were 23.1 percent for the 2014-15 winter, but summer losses exceeded winter numbers for the first time, making annual losses for the year 42.1 percent. This information came from an annual survey conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership, a collaboration of research labs and universities working to better understand honeybee declines in the United States.
"We traditionally thought of winter losses as a more important indicator of health, because surviving the cold winter months is a crucial test for any bee colony," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an assistant professor of entomology at the University of Maryland and project director for Bee Informed. "But we now know that summer loss rates are significant too.
"This is especially so for commercial beekeepers, who are now losing more colonies in the summertime compared to the winter. Years ago, this was unheard of."
While these losses are often associated with natural disease issues, the pesticide problem is one bee producers have long been concerned about.
Another of the EPA comments comes from a beekeeper who claims 50 years of experience, who wrote beekeepers have needed stronger language and protection against foliar applications of pesticides when bees are present and there are plants in bloom, for many decades, if not longer.
He does not believe the additional restrictions imposed in the rule should have excessive negative effects on growers if they are proactive and responsible about the need to apply pesticides to their crops.
The EPA plans to monitor successes from local projects aimed at preventing bee losses due to pesticides, to determine if further label restrictions are needed. To comment, go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0818
For more details, go to http://1.usa.gov/1F6Equw
