More than 25,000 bumblebees fall from Oregon sky due to insecticide poisoning

Shoppers at a local Target store in Wilsonville, Oregon, just outside of Portland were shocked recently to step outside the big box depot into a sea of already dead and dying bumblebees. As reported by KATU.com news, more than 25,000 dead bumblebees were found littered around the store’s parking lot during National Pollinator Week, a direct result of European Linden trees located in planters throughout the same parking lot having been sprayed with a highly toxic insecticide known as Safari.

European Linden trees produce luscious flowers that are rich in both nectar and pollen, which is a major draw for bumblebees and other pollinating bees during bloom season. And these same trees, which are plenteous in the Wilsonville Target’s parking lot, are a major destination for local bumblebees who feed on their nutrients and help pollinate other plants.

But the property manager of the strip mall where the Wilsonville Target is located apparently had other plans for these bees, as he or she reportedly ordered that all the trees be sprayed with an insecticide chemical known as Safari, even though it is currently bloom season. According to the information page created for Safari by its manufacturer, Valent Professional Products, Safari is a broad-spectrum insecticide that kills all sorts of insects, including bees.

“To our knowledge, this is one of the largest documented bumblebee deaths in the Western U.S.,” Rich Hatfield, a conservation biologist at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation (XSIC), is quoted as saying in a recent press release. “It was heartbreaking to watch. They were literally falling out of the trees.”

European Linden trees improperly sprayed with chemicals during pollination season

Hatfield and his colleagues collected bee samples from the Target parking lot on June 19, and later analyzed them to determine their cause of death. According to XSIC Executive Director Scott Hoffan Black, indiscriminate use of Safari was clearly to blame, as the chemical is never supposed to be sprayed during pollination season.

“It seems a landscape company did not follow label directions as [Safari] is not supposed to be sprayed during bloom,” Dan Hilburn, Director of Plant Programs at the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) is quoted as saying by RT.com. “We now assume this is the cause of the massive bee die-offs. Lots of bees still dying — almost all bumblebees.”

Reports indicate that ODA has also collected its own bee samples to test for pesticide exposure. ODA officials have since stated that they have never seen anything like this as far as bee deaths are concerned, and that the event is particularly ominous as it occurred during National Pollinator Week, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiative that takes place annually from June 17-23.

“I’ve never encountered anything quite like [this] in 30 years in the business,” added Hilburn.

Some local residents claim bees were deliberately murdered

Meanwhile, many local residents are outraged about the incident. Even though ODA is in the process of determining the next appropriate course of action to protect the remaining bees, which may include covering the trees with nets or applying bee repellant, some in the community are demanding answers, including an explanation from the property manager about the sprayings.

“This was not a ‘die-off’; it was a mass murder,” commented Rozzell Medina on the KATU.com article. “If anyone is interested in helping others to organize an onsite memorial for these murdered bees in the next couple of weeks, please join the Facebook group Wilsonville Bees Memorial.”

Sources for this article include:

http://www.katu.com

http://www.valent.com/professional/products/safari/index.cfm

http://rt.com/usa/mass-death-bees-oregon-090/

The post Very Sad – 25,000+ Bumblebees Fall from Oregon sky, dead, due to insecticide poisoning appeared first on Grow Real Food — Organic Gardening, Homesteading & Real Food Recipes.

A damning new report on Celestial Seasonings’ line of ‘all natural’ teas reveals that 91 percent of the teas sampled contained pesticide levels that exceeded U.S. federal limits. Ten out of 11 tea varieties, including Antioxidant Blood Orange and Sleepytime Kids Goodnight Grape were found to have excess pesticides.

Don’t let that term “all natural” fool you

Celestial Seasonings, owned by parent company Hain Celestial, is one of the largest specialty tea manufacturers in North America. Its website and advertising materials proclaim that Celestial Seasonings was “founded on the belief that all-natural herbal teas could help people live healthier lives. Celestial Seasonings has also heavily advertised that their teas are “all natural”.

However, it is worth noting that there is no accepted definition for the term “all natural” and that the term has been much abused by food companies to market products that are less than safe or nutritious.

What the tests found

The tests conducted by Eurofins Scientific, an independent analytic testing company, determined that many varieties of Celestial Seasonings teas contained potentially dangerous levels of multiple pesticides.

A Celestial Seasonings spokesperson gave a mostly cut-and-paste response from the “values” page of their website about how they employ a “rigorous testing protocol” and that they are “confident that all Celestial Seasonings teas deliver on the high quality, safety, and taste that consumers have expected from the brand for over 40 years.”

The tests were part of a larger report by investment company Glaucus Research, which is highly critical of Hain Celestial. Though Glaucus Research is an investment firm that specializes in short selling and one which stands to gain financially if Hain Celestial stocks go down, their report appears to be extremely well researched.

In their report, released February 21, 2013, Glaucus noted, “It is important to note that at no time did we take custody of, touch or handle any of the tea samples. Rather, we had the products shipped directly to Eurofins from the company’s website and other online retailers.”

Glaucus also said that it encourages others to repeat their tests and further stated that “The only way for consumers to make good food choices is if food producers are held accountable for the marketing and labeling of their products.”

The teas tested

Following is a list of the teas tested by Eurofins:

Green Tea Peach Blossom
Green Tea Raspberry Gardens
Authentic Green Tea
Antioxidant Max Dragon Fruit
Green Tea Honey Lemon Ginger
Antioxidant Max Blackberry Pomegranate
Antioxidant Max Blood Orange
Sleepytime Kids Goodnight Grape
Sleepytime Herb Teas
English Breakfast Black K-Cup
Rooibos Safari Spice

Of all the teas tested, only Rooibos Safari Spice had zero pesticides, and the rest exceeded federal safety and/or California safety limits:

Who can you trust for good sustainable tea?

Consumers are sure to wonder: If you can’t trust Celestial Seasonings, which teas can you trust? The answer appears to be Twinings, for one. A rankabrand.org report gives an A to Twinings teas, their highest rating for sustainability. Celestial Seasonings got an E, the lowest sustainability ranking.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.examiner.com

http://www.celestialseasonings.com/about

http://www.honeycolony.com

http://eatandbeatcancer.wordpress.com

The post Celestial Seasonings Tea Drinkers BEWARE! Pesticides Inside! appeared first on Grow Real Food — Organic Gardening, Homesteading & Real Food Recipes.