Pszczela Wola, 8th of March 2013

Dear Mr Minister,

Stanislaw KALEMBA
The Minister of Agriculture
and Rural Development
Wspólna 30
00-930 WARSZAWA

Dear Mr Minister,

On behalf of Stowarzyszenie Pszczelarzy Zawodowych, I am writing in order to request your most decisive and straightforward stance in support of introducing by the European Parliament a temporary prohibition on the new generation neonicotionid pesticides containing imidacloprid and clotianidina.

The independent researches from all around the world show that neonicotinoids, more and more frequently used in insecticides, pose a serious threat to the very existence of bees and other pollinating insects

More importantly, these substances spread throughout a plant with its sap (it also concerns seed treatments) and, as a result, they are also present in the nectar and pollen. In addition, they are highly resilient to the environmental conditions (imidacloprid up to 3 years and clotianidina up to 10 years, depending on the soil). Therefore, neonicotiniods can also contaminate plants in the following seasons and when applied several times on the same land they can lead to a more significant soil contamination. It means that bees can be exposed to a more concentrated portion of the chemicals than it is suggested in the usage instruction of the pesticide.

High water-solubility enables neonicotinoids to penetrate surface and ground water whereas due to winds they are spread to the adjacent areas on the surface of the land.

Another danger is the lack of technology to detect the lowest concentration of neonicotinoids (1 picogram = 0,000 000 000 001 g) which can, according to scientists, affect the condition of a bee family and even cause  its anihilation.

Neonicotinoids can considerably cripple bees' resistance to diseases and cause tragic in effects disorders among individual specimen and the whole family. These include damaging their orientation and memory both indispensable for such activities as coming back to the hive or maintaining the right temperature in the nest so necessary for the well-being of the family.

Mr Minister,

Over 70% of world's food resources come from plants pollinated by bees and that is a fact scientifically proved. Einstein's famous quotation warning us that after extinction of bees human kind will last only for another four years is not merely a platitude but a real possibility.

Over the world  there can be observed not symptoms but actual events of bees disappearance of the highest extent (50% of bees families disappeared due to CCD in 2006 in the USA) which unfortunately can also happen in Poland.

Widely known are also similar events registered 10 years ago in France, Germany and Italy.

The situation has become so serious that it has been reflected in the bills of the two last Apimondia Congresses: in Montpellier in 2009 and in Buenos Aires in 2011. At these congresses the main topics discussed in length were connected to the problem of CCD and the application of neonicotinoid pesticides.

The first to act was Italian government that introduced a new scientific project "APENET" in 2008. It was financed by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and its aim was to detect and analyse factors pertaining to the CCD phenomenon in this country. Another goal was to verify how the ministerial decree from 2008 banning the usage of neonicotinoids would influence the lives of bees. The results of the project presented by Dr Piotr Medrzycki has been attached to this letter.

In 2010 and 2011 beekeeping organizations in France and Germany initiated campaigns protesting against the usage of neonicotinoids. German beekeepers from DBIB (German Association of Beekeepers) started to successfully demand damages in courts on the ground of losses caused by the usage of neonicotinoid pesticides. (attached a letter by Christoph Koch from 13th of March 2012). 

On 15th of March 2012 in Warszawa there was organized March in Protection of Bees at which beekeepers from Stowarzyszenie Pszczelarzy Zawodowych, Stowarzyszenie Pszczelarzy Polskich "Polanka", Slaski Związek Pszczelarzy, Mazowiecki Związek Pszczelarzy, Nadbuzanski Związek Pszczelarzy (most important beekeeping associations in Poland), as well as, other beekeeping organizations demanded the prohibition of noeonicotinoid pesticides in Polish agriculture. This subject has been thoroughly discussed on the leading beekeeping online forums (eg. http://bartnik.pl/forum/ ).

Since January 2013 the online movement called "Avaaz" (acting, among others, for protection of natural environment, human rights and reduction of poverty) has gathered over 2.5 ml of signatures for the petition aiming at prohibiting new generation pesticides and addressed to the European Commission  http://www.avaaz.org/pl/hours_to_save_the_bees/?fp .

Dear Mr Minister,

It is only natural that farmers' and our, beekeepers', work is concentrated on efficiency and quality. To achieve that the usage of effective plant protection products is vital and understandable. However, the application of neonicotinoids an a large scale without the proper attention devoted to their destructive influence on the environment (soil, water and wild vegetation) leads to the unavoidable annihilation of bees and other pollinating insects.

Disappearance of bees and other pollinating insects resulting from the usage of plant protection products is an undeniable fact scientifically proved. No one has been able to estimate even an approximate scale of damages around the world. In Europe alone, we can suppose that as many as hundreds of thousands bees families die every year.

Currently, it is the most serious danger not only to the natural environment and economy, but also to the existence of human kind.

Once again we demand that the Polish government decisively support this temporary prohibition of neonicotinoids in the countries of the European Union.

With regards,

Janusz Kasztelewicz
Chairmen of
Stowarzyszenie Pszczelarzy Zawodowych

Attachments:

1. A letter by Christoph Kocha from 13th of March 2012 -"CCD and its causes according to DBID".

2. A letter by Dr Piotr Medrzycki, an employee of CRA-API in Bologna, from 12th of March 2012 and addressed to the Committee organizing the March in Protection of Bees.

3. A letter by Francesco Panelli, the chairman of NAAPI (Italian Beekeeping Association) and the spokesperson of the European Beekeeping Movement.

4. An interview with Christoph Koch during his stay in Poland in 2011 registered on a DVD.