This information comes to us from one of our local Eugene Chapter members. Please take a moment to sign a petition to two local enployee-owned stores, BiMart and Jerry’s Home Improvement Center, asking them to stop selling products that kill honeybee colonies:
Sign the Petition to BiMart and Jerry’s:
http://www.change.org/petitions/jerry-s-bi-mart-stores-stop-selling-bee-killing-neonicotinoid-insecticides
Stop selling poisons that kill honeybee colonies
By Gary Rondeau
Published: The Register Guard, March 20, 2013 12:00AM
The honeybees are going down. This year for the first time, almond growers in California were not able to get all the bees they need for pollination, and many colonies supplied were weak. Thousands of bee colonies were dead on arrival to the almond orchards.
According to conventional wisdom, the problem is a combination of Varroa mites and infectious diseases, but new evidence points to pesticides as the root cause. Chemicals known as neonicotinoids, including imidacloprid, are the problem.
It may already be too late to save the beekeeping industry in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency has been slow to act, and the chemicals causing the destruction are extraordinarily toxic and are persistent in the environment. read more >>
Read the full article on the Register Guard site:
http://www.registerguard.com/web/news/sevendays/29598116-47/bees-chemicals-kill-imidacloprid-bee.html.csp
Contact Jerry’s and BiMart:
After you have signed the petition, you may want to personally call or send a letter to these stores. I shop at both of these stores and will be telling them to stop carrying these bee killing poisons.
Jerry’s Home Improvement Center:
Scott Lindstrom, VP of Operations
2600 Hwy. 99 N.
Eugene, OR 97402
541-689-1911 ext.8400
Bi-Mart:
Jim Frazier
Business Office, Eugene
220 South Seneca Road.
344-0681 ext. 261.
More info:
I wrote to Gary asking him for more info. He says:
Please refer readers to the oregonsustainablebeekeepers.org website. There is a link there to the petition as well as other information and links – including our letter to the stores.
Soon I will have a post with specific chemicals and brand names found at local stores. These are the WORST because they invite overuse – treating insecticides like fertilizer.
- Ortho Rose and Flower Insect Control Plus Miracle Grow (granular formula)
- Bayer Advanced All-in-One Rose and Flower Care (granular formula)
Thanks, Lisa!
Gary
More articles on on this topic are available on the SquashPractice blog:
http://squashpractice.wordpress.com/
Sign the Petition:
Once again, here is the petition link: http://www.change.org/petitions/jerry-s-bi-mart-stores-stop-selling-neonicotinoid-insecticides/
