Rosemary Mason claims leading journal 'nature' is in the pocket of Syngenta!

**Jon** · 30-01-2013, 12:22 AM

All that Cressey has done is to demonstrate that Nature is no longer a journal of high scientific integrity, but a mouthpiece for the agrochemical industry.

Unhappiness regarding Nature's failure to accept her paper with Tennekes succinctly expressed in a 13 page letter.
Sometimes hard to get all your thoughts into just a few words.

http://moraybeedinosaurs.co.uk/neoni...f%20Nature.pdf

**drumgerry** · 30-01-2013, 11:04 AM

Jon I really wish I could motivate myself to read that! I think I must be suffering from too much time lurking on beekeepingforum!

**Neils** · 30-01-2013, 11:14 AM

I'm sorry, who is Rosemary Mason?

**Jon** · 30-01-2013, 11:25 AM

A disgruntled eco campaigner (non beekeeper) who visited Orkney earlier in the year who then claimed that varroa was a symptom rather than a cause of bee health problems and the varroa only caused a problem because the colony was weakened by neonicotinoids.

What is the truth about the Varroa mite?

Pesticide companies and their supporters blame Varroa mite, or one of the many viruses that have been found in dead and dying bees, for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). However, infection with Varroa, or any of these pathogens, is a symptom, not a cause.

So we can add 'Nature' journal to the list of shills.

**madasafish** · 30-01-2013, 01:52 PM

Pesticide companies and their supporters blame Varroa mite, or one of the many viruses that have been found in dead and dying bees, for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). However, infection with Varroa, or any of these pathogens, is a symptom, not a cause.

so logically the fact that my bees have varroa is a symptom of poisoning by neonicotinoids.

My bees must fly much further than nature intended: the nearest fields with planted crops must be at least 5 miles away - and possibly in reality 10 miles away..

**Jon** · 30-01-2013, 02:10 PM

Surely we established months ago that recourse to facts and evidence is one of the main strategies of a shill!
You have obviously taken a few calls from the editor of Nature

**Neils** · 30-01-2013, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by Jon

A disgruntled eco campaigner (non beekeeper) who visited Orkney earlier in the year who then claimed that varroa was a symptom rather than a cause of bee health problems and the varroa only caused a problem because the colony was weakened by neonicotinoids.

Hmmm, heard that one before, can't think where though

**Neils** · 30-01-2013, 04:09 PM

Actually this narrative worries me a lot.

If I could give one piece of advice only to a new beekeeper it would be 'keep on top of varroa' so to see it now being co-opted as a benign entity except when bees are already suffering from exposure to a particular pesticide class worries me enormously.

I don't intend to trivialise or diminish any of the other issues in and around beekeeping but I continue to believe that in isolation varroa continues to pose the biggest challenge to UK Beekeepers.

**Jon** · 30-01-2013, 04:17 PM

I totally agree with that.
Too many mites = shorter lived bees = small clusters = overwintering problems.
One of the biggest mistakes of those who go down the 'natural' beekeeping route is electing to leave varroa untreated.
For every Michal Bush there are 100 beginners who lose their couple of colonies to the mites.

The Ingemar fries/Bond experiment should be sobering reading, 13 survivors out of 150 so what are your chances if you only own a couple of colonies.

**prakel** · 30-01-2013, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by Jon

13 survivors out of 150 so what are your chances if you only own a couple of colonies.

The odds are stacked even higher if we then consider that Prof Ratnieks research has suggested that only about 10% of UK colonies are hygienic. -I know it's only one mechanism; but it's an important one in the mix.