Viewing post #516972 by BrendaVR

Bt is a bacteria specific to lepidoptera, it won't have a direct/immediate effect on the bees. But most corn these days do use neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids kill all insects and are 1000 times scarier because they are water soluble and long term persistent (best estimate is minimum 5 years before they break down one person told me could be over 15 but I'm not sure about the research, if any has been done).

Very scary thing is the plants we by specifically to feed the bees and butterflies may be killing them because they are overpowered with these chemicals.

Neonicotinoid residues were detected in seven out of thirteen samples (54 percent) of commercial nursery plants.

http://www.foe.org/news/news-r...

Page 10 with the image of the on the shelf neonicotide "ultimate bug killer" sold with a packet of "bee friendly seeds" shows how little the industry cares for their actions and how some gardeners are clueless...."lets attract some bees... so we can kill them"....maybe the pesticide company got the two demographics a bit mixed up?....you'd think somewhere down the line they would realize the conflict, but no.

I read the full document and here are some that hit me:

A single corn plant grown from an imidacloprid-treated seed will have access to 1.34 milligrams (mg) of imidacloprid from the soil it is grown in. In contrast, the recommended label application rate for a perennial nursery plant in a three-gallon pot is 300 mg of imidacloprid, an amount that is 220 times more imidacloprid per plant.

Plants treated with neonicotinoids continue exuding these pesticides in pollen and nectar for months to years after initial treatment.

While the majority of samples contained only one neonicotinoid, two samples (Salvia from DC and MN) tested positive for two residues, and a Gaillardia plant from MN showed measurable levels of three different neonicotinoids.

Guess I'll be growing my annual salvia from seed in future years....and here I use to laugh at the idea of "organic" flowers...not so much now!