Farm.com: Ontario, Quebec beekeepers want ban on neonic pesticides

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

Beekeepers in Ontario and Quebec are calling for a ban on neonicotinoids sprayed on field crops.

The Ontario Beekeepers’ Association (OBA) and the Fédération des apiculteurs du Québec have joined together to ask their agriculture and environment ministries to consider a ban on neonictinoids. This spring the European Union put a two year moratorium on the use of certain neonicotinoid pesticides.

The demand was prompted by what the beekeepers claim as heavy losses of bee colonies this spring. “Our industry cannot sustain these losses. Reduced numbers of pollinators also threaten the viability of our local fruit and vegetable supply,” said Dan Davidson, President of the Ontario Beekeepers Association.

A 2012 Health Canada report conducted by the Federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency suggests a correlation between corn seeds planted with insecticides clothianidin and or thiamethosam to be a contributor to bee mortalities.

The topic of pesticides is expected to be raised at a meeting between Ontario and Quebec’s Ministers of Agriculture in Halifax July 17 to 19. Read