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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: rgb(230, 120, 3);">GROUPS
RECOMMEND THAT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY TAKE SIGNIFICANT
ACTIONS TO PROTECT BEES FROM PESTICIDES</span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: rgb(230, 120, 3);"><br>
Conservation and beekeeping groups cautiously optimistic about pesticide
conference</span></b></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: black;"> </span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: black;">Contacts:</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: black;"> </span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: black;">Mace Vaughan, The
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation: 503-232-6639,</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: black;"><a href="mailto:mace@xerces.org" target="_blank" title="mailto:mace@xerces.org" shape="rect">mace@xerces.org</a></span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: black;"> </span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: black;">Zac Browning,
American Beekeeping Federation: 208-523-3692,</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: black;"><a href="mailto:z_browning@msn.com" target="_blank" title="mailto:z_browning@msn.com" shape="rect">z_browning@msn.com</a></span></b></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">PENSACOLA, Fla. (January 24, 2011) -
Last week representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the pesticide industry met with university researchers,
conservationists and beekeeping groups in Florida to discuss the way that
pesticide risks to bees are evaluated. The conference, which was
organized by the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
(SETAC), is considered by U.S. government agencies and industry-watchers
to be the first step in evaluating whether current guidelines on measuring
pesticide toxicity are effective. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Currently, the EPA only evaluates
pesticide toxicity to honey bees, while bumble bees and other
crop-pollinating bee species are given no consideration. Beekeeping
groups have also questioned the validity of the existing honey bee hazard
evaluation process in the U.S., and have pushed the agency to develop
stricter standards in the wake of highly publicized bee deaths. Previous
SETAC conferences have reviewed the pesticide risk standards to wildlife
such as fish and birds, resulting in more stringent requirements on the
part of manufacturers. This was the first SETAC conference focused
specifically on bees.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">"We are generally pleased with
the increased intensity of pesticide screening that was discussed, as
well as the inclusion of non-honey bee species in the testing
process," said Mace Vaughan, Pollinator Program Director at the
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, who attended the
conference. "We hope that this will lead the EPA to adopt more
thorough risk management strategies for pollinators."</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Pollinators have been the focus of
several conservation initiatives spearheaded by the Xerces Society and
beekeeping groups in recent years, who point out that the ecological
service bees, butterflies and other pollinators provide is necessary for
the reproduction of more than 70 percent of the world's plants. This
includes two-thirds of the world's crop species, whose fruits and seeds
together provide over thirty percent of the foods that we consume.
Dramatic declines of both wild and domesticated bees have resulted in a
growing awareness of threats such as habitat loss, diseases and pesticide
use. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">"It is vitally important that
the EPA better address the impact that these toxic substances have on
honey bees and native bees," said Zac Browning of the American
Beekeeping Federation, who also attended the conference. "Adoption
of the final recommendations from this workshop, which are expected in
the next several months, is a good first step. But much more will need to
be done to truly protect these important pollinators." </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In the U.S. alone, more than 1.2
billion pounds of pesticides are applied annually. Penn State researchers
have identified traces of more than eighty different pesticide products
in nearly all honey bee hives they examine, with several of these
compounds being implicated in bee deaths. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The Xerces Society and the
American Beekeeping Federation recommend that the EPA:</span></b><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"></span></p>
<ul type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Adopt a
strong risk assessment strategy for both honey bees and native bees
based on the information developed at the conference. </span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Conduct a
robust review of neonicitinoid pesticides, which have been
implicated in bee deaths. </span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Develop
better labeling so that consumers can easily determine which
pesticides are most toxic to bees and understand how to use the
pesticides while limiting risk to pollinators. </span></li></ul>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; color: black;">Female <em><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Osmia
aglaia </span></em>on black raspberry. Photo by Mace Vaughan, the Xerces
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