Are your "bee-friendly"garden plants actually killing bees?

[Tanuki]

This is depressing and infuriating. I have been trying to plant my yard with wildlife-friendly choices, and now there's this:

http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/08/14/your-bee-friendly-garden-killing-bees

"Gardeners who thought they were giving a helpful boost to their local bee populations by planting “bee friendly” gardens may in fact be doing more harm than good, according to a new study released today.

Environmental groups Friends of the Earth-US and the Pesticide Research Institute tested a small sample of plants purchased from Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Orchard Supply Hardware (which is currently being acquired by Lowe’s), and found that just over half of the plants had been pre-treated with pesticides that they say are known to kill bees.

“The pilot study confirms that many of the plants sold in nurseries and garden stores across the U.S. have been pre-treated with systemic neonicotinoid insecticides, making them potentially toxic to pollinators,” said Timothy Brown, co-author of the study and associate scientist with the Pesticide Research Institute. ".......(more at link)

[Brickbat]

1. The mistake is in assuming that Lowe's and Home Depot are nurseries and garden stores.

[Tanuki]

6. Those were just the places they tested. It's probably a lot more widespread,

even in dedicated nurseries and garden centers. As other posters have noted, the safest sources are seed savers, certified organic sources, etc. Now that I am aware of the problem I can be more cautious, but to be honest I never considered that I could be hurting the bees, butterflies, birds, etc. with what I was planting.

[Mojorabbit]

13. I did not know this either and I keep bees.

This really pisses me off.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. .

Just makes me happy that I start pretty much everything from seeds, or cuttings from plants in arboretums, friend's yards, the wild, etc. Our bee population this year was not nearly as large as last year.

[Peacetrain]

3. We have a fairly nice little bumble bee group and some honey bees

coming from I do not know where

But we do most of our things from SeedSavers.. that is just depressing ..

[Tanuki]

7. I have several mature holly trees, and the bees love them. I also have various weeds that

most people pull up (milkweed, etc.) but I let grow because of their obvious appeal to the bees and butterflies. I am definitely going to be more vigilant about what I buy from now on. Even purchased seeds may be pre-treated, apparently. I hope the pending pro-pollinator legislation will be passed.

[Peacetrain]

8. Tanuki.. I do not know if you are familiar

with SeedSavers.. it is out of Iowa.. but it is a wonderful non profit to promote heritage seeds

We have been using them for years

http://www.seedsavers.org/

Edit to add.. seeds themselves are pricer than what you get in a store.. but I have never had a failure pack.. and we very very rarely use any kind of insecticide.. sometimes we do dust beans..but that is it. we do a lot of companion planting.. and it has been extremely effective.

All 240 cucumber plants came up this year.. we thinned them..but we are feeding the neighborhood I have never had all the seeds germinate before.. wow

[Tanuki]

11. Thanks for that, Peacetrain

I have never bought anything from them, but they sound wonderful and I will definitely order from them in the future!

[Peacetrain]

12. You are quite welcome

[pauliedangerously]

17. I Love SeedSavers

They have interesting varieties and I am 100% behind their mission.

In fact, I saved some of my own seeds from the previous growing season and took a crack at my own seed-saving. I had success with peppers, tomatoes, and pole beans. My saved cucumbers failed, so I picked up a packet of Miniature Whites and they have turned out to be one of my best cucumber crops ever.

Cheers Peacetrain!

[Peacetrain]

18. I love them too

I have always wanted to go and visit the farm, but something always seems to come up and have not made it yet. My mother in law always saved seeds, and one of my greatest regrets is losing her heirloom tomatoes. We moved and lost the seeds, and I have no idea what kind of tomato it was.. but it was irregular and more to the pink side instead of the deeper red..and the sweetest tomato I think I ever ate.

[d_r]

4. This is important

I am sure most people who purchased these plants did not know they were pretreated with neonicotinoids. The plant that had the highest level in the study was a tomato plant purchased in California. This year things were so busy and crazy that I just bought four tomato plants rather than growing from my seeds. I never thought about them being pretreated.

[magical thyme]

5. I generally start all mine from seed.

I made an exception this year for a couple things that I lost during a poor hardening off week, but bought from an actual nursery so hopefully didn't hurt my bees.

[Scuba]

9. Kick, and recommend you cross-post in the gardening group, please.

[Igel]

10. Think of it as an OSHA regulation.

They sell the plants when they're in bloom. They grow them in greenhouses.

The plants attract bees.

Imagine a large greenhouse full of these, open to the outside for ventilation and sun.

Now imagine you're about to walk into that large greenhouse, buzzing with bees, intending to take away their food by first brushing them off the flowers.

Yeah. They spray. Both to keep off pests that would eat or otherwise destroy the plants and make them unsaleable to the general public. Also to keep their medical bills down--or make it unnecessary for all their workers to wear beekeeper's garb and carry smokepots.

"That they say" are key words. They may contribute to weakening the bees--the juries still out on that. But there are large areas with problematic CCD and no neonicotinoids, and very large areas with intensive neonicotinoid application and no CCD beyond historical baseline norms.

[Mojorabbit]

14. I have four hives in my backyard

and never have I been stung by a bee working flowers. I am sorry but that is baloney.

[Earth_First]

19. This is crap.

As a nurseryman of 15 years, a working bee or group of working bees are not aggressive.

Having several apiary friends will also confirm this.

[SunSeeker]

15. Thanks for the info. I had no idea about the toxic preteatment. nt

[The Stranger]

16. Fucking geniuses.