bees may be affected by bacillus thuringus pesticilde

Subject: Fw: is bacillus thuringus killing bees? known as BT

I wrote a paper on Bacillus Thuringus in 1996re a new 1994 amazing bacteria that kills crop eating bugs. My theme was that BT would add 12% to the food chain. My professor Dr Sheppard did not agree as he was concerned of the BT finding it's way into forest adjacent to the farms and streams etc. therefore killing off populations of bugs we need as well as bugs in the soil,rivers lakes etc.

IN a nut shell I believe that bees may be poisoned by BT. BT is a bacterium that can pass from plant species like tomatoes to corn to cotton and used heavily in the States It can be gene spliced and can change it's DNA. The plant can then produce BT to kill invading bugs. This is a Billion dollar pesticide industry.


excerpts

BT (Bacillus Thuringus)is a great way to control any kind of caterpillar.Since BT is a bacteria that only affects caterpillars, it is very safe touse.
Try it instead of poisons on your tent worms, army worms, tomatohorned worms, cabbage loopers, corn ear worms, or any other kind of worm(caterpillar)..


Yellow Jackets - WinePress.US Wine Making and Grape Growing Forum
Last year I found the nest in my winery and sprayed to kill them. .... I like the B.T. (Bacillus Thuringus) idea. I am allergic to bee stings and keep an ...www.winepress.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=2689 - 87k -

World-News: Bees dying and vanishing in many countries
Whole colonies are dying. In Western states, commercial beekeepers report up to a 60 percent loss of their bees, with losses 70 percent in Texas and on the ...


Agricultural biotechnology companies have made huge inroads into the marketplace for their GMO (genetically modified organisms) products. The New York Times recently reported that Monsanto expects U.S. farmers to plant 20 million acres of its Roundup Ready soybeans -- up from 9 million acres in 1997. Monsanto is introducing Roundup Ready corn in 1998 and expects 600,000 acres to be planted in the U.S. Additionally, the company predicts that 40 percent of the U.S. cotton crop will be planted to some type of GMO cotton seed.

Bt corn (GMO corn which contains a gene from the bacteria, Bacillus thuringus) is also in widespread use due to its ability to actually produce a pesticide which kills the European corn borer, a common crop pest. Crop producers in other countries are also jumping on the bandwagon including those in Argentina and South Africa.

The newest tool for corporate domination of agriculture -- to the detriment of farmers and consumers -- is biotechnology. It "will make the Industrial Revolution pale by comparison," Austen Cargill, top scientist at Minneapolis-based Cargill, Inc., told the New York Times. The fact is that we are probably eating gene altered food every day.


The FDA has bowed to corporate pressure in refusing to require the labeling of food containing GMO products despite the fact that public health is threatened by carcinogenic, allergenic or toxic substances which may be unintended consequences of gene adulteration.

this is only a hypothesis

see BT causes re BT toxins paralyze the digestive tract but of course just like DDT BT does not effect humans or ????????? is BT now in the food chain ????????? corn fed what ever . how about itchy eyes etc. ????

why is there a caution stated in using ;----- do not use around open wounds , eyes and do not inhale .


If you are interested please contact
George Howie LL.B.hons law minor environmental biology 905 338 5280 or gvanhowie@sympatico.ca

In a nutshell I would like to see whether Dr. Sheppard would join a team to investigate BT killing bees.

There are certainly other species such as moths and the general feed chain that BT may be affecting.