Treated corn seed. (Syngenta.com)

Two neonics set for three-year extensions on registration

Health Canada’s pesticide regulator proposes to allow continued registration for two members of the neonicotinoid family of pesticides, both of which are under heavy scrutiny for their effects on bees and other pollinators. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency on Tuesday issued proposed decisions on clothianidin and thiamethoxam that would extend the products’ existing conditional registrations […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Global study finds trace neonics in much of world’s honey

A study by Swiss scientists has found trace levels of at least one neonicotinoid pesticide in three-quarters of the honey samples it collected from around the world. The study, spearheaded by a team from Switzerland’s Universite de Neuchatel and published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, was meant to assess “global exposure of pollinators […] Read more


Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim.

U.S. bee numbers growing

CNS Canada – Honeybee populations are rising in the United States, turning around a recent trend of declines attributed to a set of factors know as colony collapse disorder. It’s estimated that 84,430 hives were lost to the disorder in the first quarter this year. That’s down 27 per cent from a year earlier. Year-over-year […] Read more

(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Operation Pollinator to create friendly spaces for bees and other pollinators on the Prairies

Syngenta Canada and the Soil Conversation Council of Canada have signed on to a multi-year partnership to promote the dedicated spaces for pollinators on the Prairies. Under the program, farmers can sign up to establish Operation Pollinator sites on their farms. In exchange for converting one to two acres of lower productivity land, the farmer […] Read more





(Photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

France moves toward all-out ban on neonics

Paris | Reuters — French lawmakers approved plans for a total ban on some widely used pesticides blamed for harming bees, going beyond European Union restrictions in a fierce debate that has pitched farmers and chemical firms against beekeepers and green groups. The EU limited the use of neonicotinoid chemicals, produced by companies including Bayer […] Read more

(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Regulatory reviews show slim risk to bees from imidacloprid

Label directions and rules for foliar and on-seed use of imidacloprid pesticides should either prevent or limit the risks to honeybees and other pollinators from the chemical, Canadian and U.S. regulators say in a new early-stage risk assessment. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday released […] Read more


(Photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. court finds EPA wrong to approve sulfoxaflor over bee risks

Reuters — A U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday that federal regulators erred in allowing an insecticide developed by Dow AgroSciences onto the market, canceling its approval and giving environmentalists a major victory. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, is significant for commercial beekeepers and others […] Read more