More than half of Ontario bees died during harsh winter

More than half of Ontario's bees did not survive the winter, according to a new report that has the province's beekeepers' group very concerned.

About 58 per cent of Ontario bees died during what was anespecially long winter, while other provinces lost on average about19 per cent of their swarm, according to the Canadian Association of ProfessionalApiculturistssurvey. That means Ontario lost bees at a rate three times that of the other provinces.

While the report fingers the weather this year's polar vortex as the main culprit for thebee deaths,acute andchronic pesticide damage or insufficient recovery from pesticideexposure last year have also been cited by hive-minders as contributing factors.

• Honey bee deaths start with pesticide, end with virus

Ontario Beekeepers' Association president Dan Davidson says bees'exposure in the hive to pollen contaminated by pesticides "almostguarantees they will not survive the winter."

The group is calling on Ontario'sgoverning Liberals to fast track aplan looking at permits restricting the number of plant seedstreated with neonicotinoids, a widely used pesticide that somescientists and environmentalists say are killing bees and otherinsects.

The apiculturists association states Canada's overall wintermortality rate averaged 25 per cent, well above what it says
beekeepers deem the "acceptable" loss limit of 15 per cent.

The Ontario bee group says nearly all corn seeds and abouttwo-thirds of soy seeds sold in the province are pretreated withneonicotinoid coatings, though only a minority of the crops are at risk from pests the insecticide is meant to stop.

It did its own winter survey earlier this year and found morethan a quarter of beekeepers lost 75 to 100 per cent of their
colonies.

"Beekeepers cannot sustain these losses and many will have toleave the business if these losses continue," group vice-presidentTiborSzabo said in a release Wednesday.

"The government of Ontario must immediately take the initiativeto ensure this permit (system) is in place for the 2015 growingseason if we are to have a sustainable industry as well as thepollinators we need for our fresh fruits and vegetables."

An international panel of 50 scientists working as the Task Forceon Systemic Pesticides said last month the use of neonicotinoids andanother popular insecticide called neonics should be phased out.

The panel said its study of 800 research papers providesconclusive evidence that the pesticides are causing mass deathsof insects that are essential to the process of pollinating mostcrops.

A Health Canada report has suggested that seeds treated withneonicotinoids contributed to the majority of the bee deaths inOntario and Quebec in 2012, likely due to exposure of thepesticide-laced dust during planting.