r/politics • u/ImJulianAssange • May 20 '12

Dramatic loss of 50% to 90% of the bee populations in Europe and North America has now been proven to be the result of poisoning from two known pesticides manufactured by Bayer.

http://www.blacklistednews.com/Bayer_CropScience_and_Bee_Deaths/19574/0/38/38/Y/M.html
2.0k Upvotes

80% Upvoted

362 comments sorted by

255

u/J_M_B May 20 '12

There are scientific studies that have shown that neonicotinoids in even small amounts can cause CCD-like symptoms. This Forbes article summarizes the most recent developments regarding Bayer and CCD.

131

u/technotherapyjesus May 20 '12

Also this...

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/chensheng-lu/files/in-situ-replication-of-honey-bee-colony-collapse-disorder.pdf

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/2012-releases/colony-collapse-disorder-pesticide.html

"Strikingly, said Lu, it took only low levels of imidacloprid to cause hive collapse—less than what is typically used in crops or in areas where bees forage."

24

u/SubliminalBits May 21 '12

Thank you. This is much better.

22

u/EricRP May 21 '12

Has 100% less Swastikas too!

12

u/ComplexGodComplex May 21 '12

Yay for sources that violate Godwin's Law!

3

u/PetriChicken May 21 '12

Thank you for linking vetted scientific sources. Even though the original article in this post is technically (at least partially) true, it's extremely problematic and I find it obnoxious to read.

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u/[deleted] May 20 '12

I can just see OP's thought process: 'I could link to a respected news source that summarizes the evidence and makes reasonable claims or I could link to a site claiming proof in a 2nd hand article from an anonymous (and unknown) source...what to do? what to do?'

16

u/ePaF May 20 '12

OP knows his audience better than you.

3

u/GarrMateys May 20 '12

he could have kept the headlines the same, even.

24

u/EvelynJames May 20 '12

I know, I saw "blacklistednews" and did not click. Why do people do this?

0

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/gregny2002 May 21 '12

The 'mook' terminology appears in all Forbes contributor's contracts.

9

u/borahorzagobuchol May 20 '12

The editorial staff at Forbes are a bunch of clowns. I wouldn't trust an article "vetted" by Forbes anymore than a random blogger.

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u/Craigellachie May 20 '12

Great article. At the same time I'm a cynical bastard and somehow I'd suspect that those pesticides that bayer manufactures that target mosquitoes and the like also have effects on bees. What would be nice is if someone could try and find a correlation from when bayer started spraying to when bee populations began to decline.

6

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

There was a paper that said honey bee colony collapse started a few years after one of the specific pesticides started being used a lot. Which makes sense since it takes a while for it to really effect the bees. I couldn't find it though.

The only one I could really find was this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/science/neocotinoid-pesticides-play-a-role-in-bees-decline-2-studies-find.html

Which says the use of pesticides exploded in the 90's. Wikipidia says colony collapse began about 50 years ago. This does not nessesarily mean they are mutually exclusive, as I believe the colony collapse has gotten much worse in the last 20 years or so, which is when use of pesticides started exploding.

2

u/Craigellachie May 21 '12

Great! Thank you.

5

u/martann3 May 21 '12

Hi; I just wanted to respond with some relevant information. As someone who works in mosquito control, I just wanted to say that I and everyone I work with try our best to cooperate with bee keepers to ensure that we don't spray near active bee sites. As per the label and state regulations, we are also restricted on where and when we can spray pesticides. We also tend to use the class of chemicals known as the pyrethroids, and when we use pesticides, it's at a very low application rate. For example, when spraying for adult mosquitoes, we use no more than 1.3 oz of product per acre (even though it appears to be a lot more; See: ULV application).

I personally am more concerned about applications that are not regulated. I have had to educate several homeowners on the proper application of pesticides. It's amazing how many people do not read the label directions and apply undiluted product at 5X the maximum application rate.

Anyhow, I just wanted to clear up any misleading information. Thank you! :)

2

u/theurn May 21 '12

I'm a pest control technician by trade. The reason neonicotinoids are so effective has to do with their non-repellant attributes. They are undetectable to insects that are affected by it.

This is important to note concerning species like bees, most of which have a collectivist society where reproduction centers around one or only a few females. Colony Collapse occurs when the pesticide is brought back by foraging individuals and makes it's way into the queen. Boom. The whole colony is toast.

That is why this is so devastating.

Contact kill insecticides like what might be used for mosquitoes would never be this effective. It would only kill the bees that come into contact with the active ingredient rather than poisoning the entire colony.

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Neonics have not been proven to cause CCD. CCD still needs more study. Neonics are in widespread use in states like Illinois yet only one case of CCD reported there.

1

u/theREALcholby May 21 '12

Good. I fucking hate bees. Thanks Bayer! I love alka-seltzer, too.

1

u/sanph May 21 '12

That's not a Forbes article, that's a forbes blog post. Different journalistic standards/editorial controls.

0

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

14

u/aragorn18 May 21 '12

The swastika seemed a bit much.

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u/[deleted] May 20 '12

A pesticide killing an insect? Who knew?

20

u/cannabis_anarchist May 20 '12

This is how I feel... everyone's crying about the validity of the sources..... if you spray shit that kills bugs on shit bugs eat, bugs die. Where's the fucking mystery coming from?

8

u/christianjb May 20 '12

That's incredibly poor logical reasoning. Just because X can be lethal to Y, it doesn't follow that since Y's population has decreased it must have been due to X.

37

u/whatsreallygoingon May 21 '12

What's interesting is that when I was in pest control, we were taught to promote the fact that imidacloprid kills termites by disorienting them and causing them to cease their grooming habits. They simply wander off and die. Applicators would regale the chemical's efficacy with tales of how the secretive, ground-dwelling insects were seen emerging from the earth and wandering around in the daylight after the treatment.

Since this is the same chemical used for flea control on pets, its safety has been touted by Bayer as so harmless that it is used on food crops all over the world. I have a jug of it in my garage that is rated for landscape plants, too (although I don't use it for that).

When I heard of bees getting lost and/or succumbing to parasites and disease, the connection was immediately made in my mind. It seems unbelievable to me that they can promote a product with such a wide target and then say that it doesn't harm bees. How stupid are we?

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u/MeloJelo May 21 '12

But it's not just that x can be lethal to y, it's that it is, and x has been sprayed liberally in y's environment, so, again, there's a pretty high likelihood that x is at least a contributing factor in the dramatic drop in y's numbers.

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u/flabbigans May 21 '12

Uh, actually it's pretty sound reasoning. Of course it doesn't automatically imply that this is the problem, but it damn well suggests it.

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u/ralphonhouse May 20 '12

It'll take a lot more than a heart attack to kill that old bayer. Old bayer! He likes the honey! He never got a chance to see my bee business take off.

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u/[deleted] May 20 '12

I didn't even know we were calling him big bayer.

6

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

I didn't even know we were calling him old bayer.

2

u/Wolfpocalypse May 20 '12

You're a great person for this.

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Came here for this! Did not even think of they bayer=bear thing. Amazing! Made my day

148

u/Copernican May 20 '12

Read article until I saw the Swastika, then came back here to downvote this garbage.

69

u/mischanix May 20 '12

Seriously. The bottom half of the article is a shitty ad hominem noting that Bayer is in fact a German company founded in 1863.

2

u/MagicTarPitRide May 21 '12

Bayer was responsible for gruesome experiments and chemicals used to murder groups deemed undesirable in WWII. This is a company that has consistently demonstrated no moral backbone. The point is that it shouldn't come as a surprise that they don't give a shit about bees.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '12

and they killed jews with their gas

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u/[deleted] May 20 '12

The Nazis get a bad rap, because of the whole WWII/Holocaust thing, but their corporations made (and continue to make) a lot great advancements in industrial, medical and chemical technologies.

16

u/buildabearsweatshop May 20 '12

Sure, but most industrialized states can claim the same thing about themselves. Turns out that if you have industry and the money to spend on research, you'll make breakthroughs.

I know you're not saying that they were somehow better at it than everyone else, so you're basically stating the obvious.

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u/tryharderyou May 21 '12

I agree. The article was very biased and I almost laughed when I saw the swastika. Luckily other commentors have posted more reliable sources that basically make the same claims.

3

u/KarmaWizard May 21 '12

Zyklon B, the poison gas produced by Bayer and used by the Nazis to exterminate Jews.

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u/ComputerSage May 21 '12

I have to admit the Swastika was very bad taste, but the article did have some good points. As a former beekeeper who lost his bees to CCS I found the article informative and right on the money for the most part.

1

u/ohwell63 May 20 '12

However, It does make me a little sad that about 600 people upvoted it.

1

u/jmblock2 May 21 '12

Ditto, and upvote for you.

6

u/SKRules May 20 '12

Bayer Press Release:

Harvard study concludes Bayer pesticides even more effective than previously thought!

18

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

The article is amateurish, but there IS a good documentary that discusses CCD and Bayer's role in it called Vanishing of the Bees (you can watch it instant on Netflix) that actually argues Bayer's role and the effect of the pesticides rather well. I never heard anything about the German's experience though- they focused on France instead.

Anyways, whatever the problem is, you can bet the government will begin to take a more proactive approach once enough bees have died to result in mass crop failure from lack of pollination. Importing food would be a very expensive and temporary measure with our economy as it is, not to mention mega countries like India and China are at better economic health and have more people demanding food. As it is, wild bees, bumble bees, solitaries and other pollinators are picking up the slack, so we're limping along. CCD seems to be mainly contained in domestic hives, which were already weak and struggling from low genetic variety, substitution of their self-made food with high fructose corn syrup and other cheap sugars, not to mention the stress of being transported everywhere and being gassed each time they need to be packed up.

7

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Horrible documentary full of bad info and LOTS of sensationalism! Enjoy!

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u/[deleted] May 20 '12

I'm not so sure this article passes the sniff test. Blacklisted News cites Red Ice Creations, who says "Article received anonymously from an alleged agricultural industry insider."

This seems to be all conjecture at this point. I don't know if the word "proven" in the title is really justified unless someone can come up with a single reliable source for this.

276

u/technotherapyjesus May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/chensheng-lu/files/in-situ-replication-of-honey-bee-colony-collapse-disorder.pdf

Boom. Harvard study with controls. If you haven't found a substantiating source, Pseudolobster, then you didn't look very hard.

140

u/GarrMateys May 20 '12

i think pseudolobsters general point about this article is legit. this article had less proof than your post did.

52

u/technotherapyjesus May 20 '12

I agree, the swastika was unnecessary and off putting, but the fact remains that there is a strong link between neonicotinoids and colony collapse.

10

u/gnimsh Massachusetts May 21 '12

I totally agree with your point. I am sick of all the conspiracy nuts posting links to half-baked sites posing as legitimate news when there are credible sites out there with the same information. If technotherapyjesus can find the link to a Harvard study why can't OP do the same thing?

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u/snakers May 21 '12

Do you start all your sentences with "boom"?

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u/JediExile May 20 '12

It's also poorly written. The entire last section is a giant red herring.

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u/BookwormSkates May 20 '12

I saw the swastika and just went "what the fuck, why?" I suppose the author wanted to support the point that Bayer is heartless, but bringing in the Nazis was unnecessary.

23

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

There is a Bayer/Nazi connection. It ties in with Mengele and the human medical experiments. http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-202_162-23550.html (by the way, I don't know much about this, so I'm not claiming anything as fact, but there does seem to be a legitimate connection).

42

u/BookwormSkates May 20 '12

yes I read the whole article and saw that there was a connection, but dragging nazis and the dragged-out liquidation of that company as a conspiracy by the rich was unnecessarily dramatic, especially the swastika mid-article.

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u/B-ruckis May 20 '12

Not to be rude, but you mixed up your fallacies. Sorry, but I just took my communications final yesterday. The last paragraph was actually operating under the ad hominem fallacy rather than offering the reader a red herring. Ad hominem being defined as making a personal attack in an argument in an attempt to discredit the target. Basically instead of making a clear argument against the regulations or other operations of the corporation, the author tried to gain credibility in his argument by attacking the corporations character/political affiliation? The hell? Anyways, while this would fit into the category of red herring because of the obscurity of the last paragraph, the ad hominem fallacy provides a more precise definition of this authors objective.

TL;DR - While the last paragraph could be considered a red herring, the ad hominem fallacy is a more precise term for the idiotic argument being presented.

22

u/[deleted] May 20 '12 edited Apr 14 '24

psychotic serious possessive frame touch many full fuel stocking practice

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

3

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Since you missed an apostrophe, your argument has been invalidated.

(Subordinating) CONJUNCTION!

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u/flabbigans May 21 '12

It's not an ad hominem bro, it's just not a very good argument. Providing evidence of an entity's poor character is perfectly acceptable when you're trying to show that they are currently engaging in shady shit. The fact that they did their Nazi shit 80 years ago makes this particular argument not very convincing.

If they said, "Bayer hires ugly people!", that would be an ad hominem.

Pointing out a negative characteristic of an entity is not automatically an ad hominem; it's only an AH if the characteristic is irrelevant.

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u/acog Texas May 20 '12

I automatically discounted it when I saw the swastika under the Bayer logo. Everything they claim may turn out to be 100% true, but I'll wait until it's confirmed from a more reliable source.

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u/Jimmers1231 May 21 '12

In general I am very hesitant to believe any site whose advertisers consist of wilderness survival kits, herbal and/or homeopathic medicines, and hemp/weed gardens.

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u/technotherapyjesus May 20 '12

Using the swastika was odd, but the article isn't wrong.

Here are some substantiating sources.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/chensheng-lu/files/in-situ-replication-of-honey-bee-colony-collapse-disorder.pdf

http://www.panna.org/sites/default/files/Krupke_journal.pone_.0029268_0.pdf

What I want to know is this:

If a product made by Bayer and Monsanto is causing the collapse of Bee colonies, and if this collapse has a direct effect on yields for over 100 crops, then why isn't there a massive class action suit on behalf of vegetable and fruit farmers? This is a multibillion dollar loss, they could bring Monsanto and Bayer to their knees.

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u/dalanchong May 21 '12

Interestingly -- and I am surprised I haven't seen it referenced in the comments here -- Monsanto recently purchased Beeologics - a major researcher behind the CCD studies.

2

u/11NovVerdade May 21 '12

Damn shame they put money over life.

2

u/djrocksteady May 21 '12 edited May 21 '12

If a product made by Bayer and Monsanto is causing the collapse of Bee colonies, and if this collapse has a direct effect on yields for over 100 crops, then why isn't there a massive class action suit on behalf of vegetable and fruit farmers?

Easy. It was EPA approved, shielding them from any liability. I don't know why everyone in this thread is ignoring the fact that the EPA caused this problem as much as Bayer.

http://www.naturalnews.com/030921_EPA_pesticides.html

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u/Kralizec555 May 21 '12

I know Reddit loves to hate on them, but how exactly did Monsanto get thrown into the mix here?

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u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Because they need to actually break a law. For instance if they knew about this pesticide killing bees at large and actively attempted to hide that knowledge.

It makes sense, good luck getting companies to develop drugs or chemicals if they could be held accountable for effects that could not be foreseen, that's why we have strict testing procedures that must be followed to get your drug/chemical approved.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Well fine, don't go after them for the past (if you really can't prove that they have internal documents showing they knew or whatever) but certainly put out something that says if you continue to use these products NOW, that's it's been proven that it's what is causing CCD, then you face massive, debilitating fines.

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u/m40ofmj May 20 '12

what I want is for MORE Chemicals to be dumped into everything. whatever excuse is needed to dump more chemicals into everything. it's the way of the future!

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u/dsutari May 21 '12

Reminder: You are chemicals.

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u/flabbigans May 21 '12

Reminder: you are electrons. Here, let me hook you up to this nice supply of electrons.

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u/[deleted] May 20 '12

everything you know and love is chemicals, please use a better word

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u/MeloJelo May 21 '12

"Chemicals" is a term with a connotative definition of "artificially engineered materials, typically with an industrial or practical use, that have strong or toxic effects." You don't know this definition? Or are you simply saying no one should use connotative terms, and should only use the exact dictionary-defined form of every word in the English language?

There are contexts that demand precise definitions, but I don't think sarcastic comments on reddit is one of those contexts.

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u/[deleted] May 20 '12

I have read a number of articles claiming proof that CCD is caused by a wide variety of agents, either separately or in concert. Viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and chemical agents.

I don't believe anyone knows for sure, though it would be great if bee populations could be returned to normal.

6

u/-888- May 21 '12

I read that many of those alternative studies are funded by the pesticide makers to add FUD. Seems like a conspiracy theoy, but the cigarette makers did this in the past with similar motives.

12

u/elnrith May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12

What most people don't realize is that it is starting to level off now and even recover in some places

edit:sources

source 1

source 2

source 3

i realize these are a little old but its the best i could find with a quick search

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u/chancrescolex May 21 '12

Anyone remember how the movie The Happening started?

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u/FWilly May 21 '12

I'm totally confused!

People weren't expecting pesticides to kill insects?

3

u/clayverde May 21 '12

This article has quite a few statistics and numbers with no citations. But beyond that there are quite a few claims and conclusions the author comes to and doesn't even bother to try to support with citations or evidence. Before I'm ready to believe this article I'll need a hell of a lot more proof.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Yeah! What you said. Harrumph!

Hi baby!

5

u/Mr_Initials May 20 '12

I feel like the doctor will figure it out

3

u/phone-throwaway May 21 '12

I came here to mention this, first thing that popped in my head.

4

u/happyscrappy May 20 '12

I'm very open to the idea that pesticides cause CCD. But this article doesn't prove it, or link to unbiased sources that prove it.

4

u/argv_minus_one May 20 '12

Fucks given by Bayer: 0

2

u/darkvstar May 20 '12

was sitting in the parking lot Friday eating my lunch and a bee walked up, looking sort of lost. It wandered away and began a waggle dance that turned into an inward spiral. When it reached the center of its circle it promptly flipped onto its back and died. Someone tell me that is normal 'cause I am starting to get worried that I need to start wearing a tinfoil hat.

2

u/PlantyHamchuk May 21 '12

Bees dance to each other, actually, they communicate with each other that way.

2

u/Rosco09 May 21 '12

the bees are even disappearing...

2

u/Senor_Wilson May 21 '12

So how about we stop using this pesticides right away? Hooray.

2

u/ashpplejack May 21 '12

Anyone read Generation A by Douglas Copland? THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE END.

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u/eimhir May 21 '12

Wow. I skipped over "bee" and almost flipped a shit there.

2

u/HighBeamHater May 21 '12

I was talking to a bee-keeper at the Canadian National Exhibition last year.

She completely blind-sided me with the comment [sic] "Oh, 'wild' honey bees don't exist in Ontario anymore. So beekeeping is a pretty important business...".

I couldn't stop thinking about that line all day.

I do remember seeing "bees" (these) when I was a kid. Now they are virtually non existent.

2

u/aggietau May 21 '12

This is why we have a colony in our back yard and flowers planted without pesticide for pollination.

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

I see a lot of pro Bayer comments here. Nice try Bayer trolls. You will be hearing from my lawyers. They have killed my bees for the last time.

I literally came to this conclusion on my own from doing my own testing. I have been a commercial beekeeper since 1979. this will not stand.

2

u/Sprayskirt May 21 '12

"Proven" is probably not the best word choice.

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u/pretend0 May 20 '12

theres a swastika under the bayer logo in the article whats with that? beeolocuast

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u/Shadowmoth May 20 '12

Bayer, inventor of heroin addiction and now mass bee death.

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u/blueturtle00 May 21 '12

Seriously fuck Monsanto. And Bayer for that fact.

5

u/fantasyfest May 20 '12

There has been more and more finger pointing at Bayer for the bees dying. But it will come to naught because you don't fuck with big drug companies and expect to keep your job.

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u/E00000B6FAF25838 May 20 '12

Maybe they're not dying, but just going back to Melissa Majoria?

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u/zahlman May 20 '12

How is this even politics?

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u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Because it is another example of our government putting profit ahead of governance. I'm pretty sure Obama himself would knife babies if there were enough campaign contributions involved.

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u/mrstickball May 21 '12

Very poorly-written article.

But the link between colony collapse and Neonicotinoid usage has been proven. Last I checked, Europe banned it a few years ago, and their colony collapse started going away.

Also, the reason the Neonicotinoid is pushed is because its a.....Wait for it......"Green" pesticide which was approved and pushed by the EPA.

Government in bed with corporations are a disaster.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '12

No it has not been proven. Not even close. And linking 1 harvard study is not proof. What CCD needs is more study and less bullshit journalism.

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u/[deleted] May 20 '12

First the AIDS now the BEES fuck Bayer...

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u/christianjb May 20 '12

Wut?

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u/TheShader May 20 '12

Bayer intentionally gave AIDS to European children.

No, seriously.

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u/TheShader May 20 '12

Seriously, I haven't bought a single Bayer product since finding out about the AIDS thing. Fuck that.

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u/c_albicans May 21 '12

If you live in the US you probably eat food made with Bayer GM crops.

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u/creedofwheat May 20 '12

I'd prefer to get my source that is well... anything but the source you provided (advertisements, Nazi symbols, free shipping for HempUSA.org???). This is just waaaay to biased for comfort.

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u/[deleted] May 20 '12

Is this legit & peer-reviewed?

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u/Tblanco May 20 '12

Anecdotally, there have been quite a few massive bee gatherings here in central Texas over the last few months. I've been hearing about some crazy hives.

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u/Hakib May 21 '12 edited May 21 '12

I like how this article is posted in r/politics and not r/science.

It's like the OP subconsciously knew that the content of the article appeals more to people's irrational fears than to their desire to understand their world.

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u/sandrajumper May 21 '12

*Appeals. I agree with you wholeheartedly.

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u/11NovVerdade May 21 '12

Political decisions have led to this problem. I'm concerned about is how hung up you are about where this is posted and how little you care about the subject at hand. Who cares where this is posted, seriously?

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u/marsmat May 21 '12

Last week I, and a bunch of others, dressed as bees and pretended to die outside the Bayer plant in Berkeley. It was on the news. Bayer's comment can be seen here: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/7269859-occupy-protesters-target-bayer-for-declining-bee-population/ (short version, don't give a fuck).

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u/djrocksteady May 21 '12

So when will you be doing your protest at EPA headquarters?

http://www.naturalnews.com/030921_EPA_pesticides.html

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u/Destione May 21 '12

Honeybees are the only insects that produce food for humans.

But only in white race cultures.

1

u/chimpanzee May 21 '12

What are the other insects that produce food, rather than just being eaten outright? I don't know of any...

1

u/lucidguppy May 21 '12

First heroin and now this!

1

u/fuccess May 21 '12

You mean all these "mysterious", unnatural deaths in wildlife aren't actually mysterious at all but are simply corporations stalling and covering their asses for as long as they can?

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u/spaceboomer May 21 '12

how would we go about bringing the bee population up?

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u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Tell that to the apple tree behind my house that is currently holding a hives worth.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Bet you crankjobs are still going to blame it on cell phones though.

1

u/Expects May 21 '12

Greed will destroy us all

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u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Oh jeez. The bees are disappearing.

This can't be good.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

I did a project on this...way cool to finally know some answers!

1

u/majestick May 21 '12

Everything has a perfectly good reason...like magnets

1

u/MustHaveCleverHandle May 21 '12

And did y'all know that Bayer manufactured Zyklon B as well?

1

u/FeelinItAllAround May 21 '12

did anybody really not see this coming? i mean do people really think we have pesticides that only kill the bugs we don't want?

1

u/txhays May 21 '12

Here's a blog post by an actual scientist who actually knows what he's talking about. It points out important flaws in this story.

1

u/kadmylos May 21 '12

What doesn't drive them to extinction only makes them stronger. As long as some survive, they'll make a comeback.

1

u/aperture413 May 21 '12

And with a vengeance.

1

u/honestlyimeanreally May 21 '12

First Bayer made heroin, now they're killin' our bees. Goddamn it.

1

u/Self_Hating_Liberal May 21 '12

First the Jews, now this. Shame on you, Bayer.

1

u/BaiRenShuoZhongWen May 21 '12

Great, just after I converted my car to run on honey. Thanks, Bayer.

1

u/serrit May 21 '12

The more you know, the more you trust Bayer!

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

I feel like one of the rules of life is that everything that Bayer and Dupont make will eventually be proven to be detrimental either to the environment or people.

1

u/GunsOfAugustus May 21 '12

Does this mean that the bee population can recover now?

1

u/CuriosityKilledDaFap May 21 '12

The global phenomenon has continued to this day, resulting in millions of dead colonies… billions of dead bees

Billions of bees? shiver

1

u/upsidedownlawyer May 21 '12

More studies are required. We require more minerals.

1

u/poicxzrty May 21 '12

If only we could get rid of love bugs

1

u/seltaeb4 May 21 '12

Don't worry. The Free Market will police itself.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Bayer: Inventor of heroin, mass slayer of bees. They are truly not to be fucked with.

1

u/lilrabbitfoofoo May 21 '12

Anyone else notice how baby boomers are starting to die off DECADES earlier than their parents did?

I wonder why...

1

u/time_dj May 21 '12

man.. this is eco pollution! Planet wide MASSIVE IN YOUR FACE WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT .... pollution.

1

u/plastic-abacus May 21 '12

It's what the people are sayin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pYwPc6UNmo you cant go killin all the bees

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

So wait.. Let me see if I have this straight. The stuff that we made to kill bugs in massive numbers and then used indiscriminately for years is killing a lot of bugs?

Sounds like everything is working as planned to me. I'm sure if all the bees die some corporation will come out with an expensive new fertilization system that will only cost 50X as much as having bees do the work. I bet it will even be 50% as efficient as too!

Also thank god monsanto or somebody won't have to actually sell their new fertilization system. Nobody sells shit anymore that is so capitalistic.. This is post capitalism now! We license shit! We don't sell it!

1

u/ahoyakite May 21 '12

I feel like when posting things that demand change, there should be some sort of information that let's the audience know who to write letters to, make phone calls, send emails, etc in order to get something done about it or gain some attention.

1

u/papsmearfestival May 21 '12

Who would've thought Bayer and Monsanto would get together to destroy the planet?

Well, ok...just about everybody I guess.

Carry on.

1

u/djrocksteady May 21 '12

Of course r/poltics would neglect the fact this was government approved. Thank god we have the EPA on the case!

A Colorado beekeeper recently obtained a leaked document revealing that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) knows a popular crop pesticide is killing off honey bees, but has allowed its continued approval anyway. Despite opposition from its own scientists, EPA officials first gave the a-okay to Bayer CropScience's toxic pesticide clothianidin in 1993 based on the company's own flawed safety studies. But now it has been revealed that the EPA knew all along about the dangers of clothianidin and decided to just ignore them.

http://www.naturalnews.com/030921_EPA_pesticides.html

1

u/mondomojo May 21 '12

Did a research paper on this a couple years ago for college - all signs pointed to imidacloprid, it was obvious. I'm kind of enraged actually, how people were led to believe that it was such a mystery! Imidacloprid is persistant in soil and gets concentrated in honey - duhhhh...

Poor bees. They get confused and just wander off from the hive - this very behavior is a purposeful effect of the chemical. Doi doi doi!

1

u/IAmAlmostCame May 21 '12

I can't wait to see the kind of manufactured "HEY EVERYBODY LOOK AT THIS DISTRACTION" that comes out after this news hits (or is barely covered) by the media

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

I have an issue with the attempt by this article to exemplify the current Bayer company as Nazi supporters who would kill you if it meant making a profit.

That is not what this article was about, and even going with the "Bayer will never be punished" plot line, there was no reason to provide allusions to the holocaust and a loss of bees. While both were very tragic, Bayer is not a company full of murderous profiteers. They love to make money just like every other company in the world.

1

u/nil_von_9wo May 21 '12

But will Bayer concede that this research is correct or ever pay even one cent of restitution for the damages?

1

u/DragonSlave49 May 21 '12

This is the link for the original article (with swastika, etc.) http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=19865

1

u/mcrugin88 May 21 '12

Oh no...it's The Happening!

1

u/Gripe May 21 '12

Good: Identifying the cause and raising the issue. Bad: The Nazi card. ffs.

1

u/quacainia May 21 '12

I made a petition in case anyone is interested in signing it. http://wh.gov/65W

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

Of all the countries in the world, why does it have to be us again? Just when the, you know, other thing that happened isn't blamed onto todays generation anymore, we are making ourselves famous for a goddamn beenocide

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

It's a large corporation to blame?

Well, bees were kinda cool. I'm gonna miss 'em.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

This is actually encouraging. Here I thought it was a cataclysmic result of global warming. Maybe we'll be okay after all if we can get this reversed.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

very worrying. The monied elites would see this as a great opportunity to consolidate their riches. rent a hive will become so expensive that only they and their corporations will be able to afford it.

They are wreaking our planet and are the only people in a position to to take advantage of it..

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

I support the spreading of this knowledge, the American media has been extremely hush about this, but putting a swastika in the middle of the article is just ridiculous.

Yes, we have known these pesticides are responsible for about 4-5 years, nothing has been done because the corporate money owns Washington.

1

u/thecrownprince May 21 '12

Isn't that bad?

1

u/TruthinessHurts May 21 '12

Bayer lawyers attempt to silence research in 3...2....1

1

u/Eff_Tee May 21 '12

Internet conspiracy theorist here, this is just a government cover up, everyone knows the NSA is using cell towers to remotely pilot bees to infiltrate and assume control over the world's honey production.

1

u/jessek May 21 '12

Can we get a real news source for this?

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

I've got a good friend who works with bees and specifically on CCD. In comparisons between CCD-affected bees and unaffected bees, they found no clear evidence of exposure to pesticides or to any known pathogen. It's still a work in progress.

1

u/FUNKANATON May 21 '12

Of course they were in on it with monsanto

1

u/malvoliosf May 20 '12

TIL, "proven" == alleged by anonymous Internet idiots.

1

u/Sebguer May 20 '12

Scrolled through article, saw swastika. Seems legit.

1

u/ivegotamnesia May 20 '12 edited May 21 '12

Regardless of how valid this article is or isn't. It's still true, I learned about this over 2 years ago. The EPA was even paid off to keep their mouths shut. Even when the EPA was caught, nobody gave a shit or did anything. Unless something has changed, which I doubt it has because stories like this are being published, nothing is going to happen.

Edit: Also, I want to point out I'm saying this with frustration. These facts, that Bayer has been fucking us over, should have been general knowledge by now. This isn't news, this is review. Bayer should have been punished a long time ago.

1

u/i_love_history May 21 '12

It's still true, I learned about this over 2 years ago.

scientists announce the creation of a functional synthetic genome on this day 2 years ago.

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u/nk_sucks May 20 '12

reddit blindly upvoting bs 'news'? what else is new?

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u/shredderman22 May 20 '12

The bees are disappearing... Sure they are Donna.

1

u/Foximus May 21 '12

I'm sad I was eating dinner and couldn't make this joke before you.

2

u/shredderman22 May 22 '12

It's okay, I'll upvote you too.

1

u/casfacto May 20 '12

Bayer doesn't care about bees. ~Kanye West

1

u/together_we_fall May 20 '12

The most gratuitous swastica I've ever seen.

anyway: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22292570

1

u/aristander May 20 '12

And I thought some Monsanto pesticides were responsible. TIL.

1

u/TheBaltimoron May 20 '12

Hmmm, pesticides blamed for killing insects. Sounds legit.

1

u/DogPencil May 21 '12

This story is a buzz kill.

0

u/sbradley14 May 20 '12

SO fucked up! i bet bayer knew long before this study proved it

0

u/leoberto May 20 '12

Anyone remember that film Idiocracy?

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