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Some here may find this from the University of Minnesota interesting. http://www.cfans.umn.edu/Solut...ler_Bottle/index.htm The sign of a good gardener is not a green thumb, it is brown knees. | |||
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Good article Kimm...........it sounds like one of those *amn if you do and *amn if you don't issues. Farmers must protect their crops, yet we need bees for the crops. Several of the magazines I read have reported the decline of honey bees for several years now. Our scientists are so smart, you'd think they could create an insecticide that would not harm the honeybees, yet protect crops from the undesirables. ve | |||
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I would like to know if the scientists really do try to come up with the least harmful remedies, or do they try this, try that, oh this one works on the target pest and it is cheap, so "stop the research - we have a winner". Big bucks in their pockets and instead of a Silent Spring, we end up with a Silent 24/7. Summers are just this side of hell, but you don't have to shovel sunshine... Click on the left to show albums http://s76.photobucket.com/use...brary/?sort=3&page=1 | |||
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KG, I suspect what scientists come up with depends on who pays them  . This is not to suggest that scientists have less than pure interests or are mercenary, but speaks more to the reality of limited funds and who can most afford to fund the studies.Agriculture has so largely morphed from individual farms to the large commercial outfits focused on profit, not on healthy food, that these commercial interests have the power to dictate and "guide" so-called remedies. It's really so very sad if not frightening that these little fuzzy wuzzy flyers have suffered so much.This message has been edited. Last edited by: AsiaticLily, | |||
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The pesticides that many people spray around in the right dose would be toxic to humans as well. Many are known to cause health problems in people exposed to them and some have been linked to birth defects. We are poisoning the world we live in. The sign of a good gardener is not a green thumb, it is brown knees. | ||||
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And in spite of that fact the manufacturers always have the clout to produce the report results which convince the powers that be to allow this to continue... Summers are just this side of hell, but you don't have to shovel sunshine... Click on the left to show albums http://s76.photobucket.com/use...brary/?sort=3&page=1 | |||
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It's up to each individual who sees the danger of pesticides to find alternatives to the chemicals. Every person who uses natural gardening methods creates less of a chemical impact on earth. I haven't used chemical pesticides for decades. Thirty years ago when we lived in the city we hired ChemLawn as we didn't have time or knowledge to make a good lawn and I still feel guilty about that altho didn't know better at the time. I seldom use synthetic fertilizers either. One year a few years ago I bought a bag of pure nitrogen to accelerate my compost and give my lawn a boost but won't likely do that again as it's unnecessary IMO. What makes me mad is that many scientists know the adverse results of these chemicals on bees, governments know but pretend not to, and big ag continues making exorbitant profits at the expense of bees and humans. While I agree that today's crops seem to 'need' large inputs of chemicals there have been studies that show that more is often used than is necessary. Also with GMO's increasing amounts seem to be necessary. Lucky "I have always had an aversion to the concepts of in style and out of style." ~Rose Tarlow Inspirational pics: http://inspiration4u.shutterfly.com/ | |||
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To add to lucky's post...not only are larger quantities of herbicides & pesticides needed for the crops, they are now going back to some of the more dangerous ones...2,4D. The reason?, because roundup, gysophate (sp?), has caused weeds to adapt to it and now won't kill them. The same thing is happening with pesicides...it is creating "super" bugs. And guess what, the #1 toxic chemicals that are showing up in our waters are not farm chemicals, they are #2....LAWN chemicals are the #1...due to people NOT following the directions and over applying. I admit, I do use "some" chemicals, but mine is spot use not a total coverage...and I use as small an amount as I can to get the job needed done. "The soil is the source of life, creativity, culture and real independence." David Ben-Gurion | |||
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Unfortunately, it's not just agriculture that's being poisoned. Take some time to read some of the Environmental Working Group's reports (http://www.ewg.org/), then spend some time at its Skin Deep site for some shocking reports on the toxins in cosmetics: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ If you can tolerate more, check out the lists of toxins in health products: http://www.ewg.org/bodyburden/consumerproducts We're being assaulted from several angles with toxic chemicals (not to mention those in food). | |||
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The pyrethrins, rotenones, spinosad, Bacillus thuringiensis, and even the insecticidal soaps many of us use on occasion are all chemicals as are the insecticides made synthetically. Most all insecticides, organic or synthetic, have the potential of killing off the pollinators as well as the bad bugs. The sign of a good gardener is not a green thumb, it is brown knees. | ||||
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My understanding is that only the honey bee is affected...but the honey bee is NOT native to the United States. I have not read that other species of bees (or other pollinators) are affected...so I wonder if this is mostly boo-ha-ha over nothing? | |||
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Kris, you have been missing something because we are poisoning all of the pollinators not just the honey bees. Commercial bee hives is one area where this has been most observed because that is an industry, but many of the researchers have seen the same decline in all of our pollinators, bees, butterflies, etc., a decline in populations that can mean less food for us. The sign of a good gardener is not a green thumb, it is brown knees. | ||||
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Kris, I don't know if the honey bee is in fact a nonnative species, but it has become and is critical to pollination which is essential for food production in flowering plants. Unlike some of the nonnative species which have become invasive and threaten native species, the honey bee is an invaluable element of food production. It is not a nuisance and its existence is essential to food production. I don't think there's any question that something so critical to our food supply frightens people, as do the effects of global warming, but the better way to deal with these threats is to address them head on and change the situations that are causing them. And I applaud the scientists and others who are doing this and ensuring that as food consumers we know what the risks are to our food supply. | |||
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Perhaps this link might be of interest to some here as well. Far too many people seem to think the only pollinators are the honey bees from which most of our honey comes. There are many more out there and they are all adversly affected by the poisons we are spraying around. http://plants.usda.gov/pollina...tive_Pollinators.pdf The sign of a good gardener is not a green thumb, it is brown knees. | ||||
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