Bayer: Low level neonicotinoids kill colonies by interference with grooming behaviour

[gavin]

The following message was posted by Stromnessbees in the Blog area. The Blog is generally used for posting diaries of personal experiences rather than cut-and-paste diatribes. I have moved Stromnessbees post here, deleted it from the Blog area, and withdrawn her permission to post in the Blog area. G.

Termites are closely related to bees and like bees they live in highly organised colonies which rely on grooming behaviour to keep out infections and parasites.

In the 1990s Bayer developed a method of killing termite colonies with low levels of Imidacloprid that stop this grooming behaviour, they called this 'Premise Plus Nature' (TM)

Did it not occur to them that the same would happen to colonies of bees which collect nectar and pollen contaminated with these neurotoxins?

Did they fail to test it on bees, or did they test it and ignore the results?

Here an article about their termite killing strategy from 1997:


Premise Plus Nature Equals Value Added Termite Control

| March 1, 1997 |

Countless weapons have been created over the years in attempts to win the war against termites. Some kill on contact, others repel termites, but all share the goal of structural protection. Throughout the search to find the perfect weapon even nature has been unsuccessful, until now.

Premise® Insecticide, introduced by Bayer Corporation in 1996, works synergistically with nature to provide value-added termite control. Premise Plus Nature,TM the term the manufacturer uses to describe the product's unique mode of action, affects termites by making them susceptible to infection, disease and death by naturally occurring organisms.

HOW IT WORKS.

With Premise there are two modes of action at work. At moderate to high exposure levels, Premise causes termites to stop feeding, stop grooming, become disoriented and die. Premise Plus Nature takes over at lower exposure levels. Unlike contact mortality and repellent barrier termiticides, this unique mode of action puts Premise in a category all its own.

Like germs that cause illness and disease in humans, microorganisms, especially fungi naturally present in the soil, cause disease in termites. Fungal spores attach themselves to the termite cuticle, germinate, penetrate and eventually cause death. But thanks to Mother Nature, termites have found ways to survive in this hostile soil environment.

The termites' habit of grooming themselves and other termites in the colony is a principle part of their defense systems. This instinctive habit enables termites to virtually eliminate the threat of the fungi; termites remove the spores before they can germinate and cause disease.

Premise Plus Nature disrupts this natural defense process. After exposure to Premise, termites no longer groom themselves or take care of each other. Premise interferes with their methods of combating fungi and, in the end, they will succumb to disease and death.
"Grooming offers termites a shield to protect themselves. But when grooming stops and the shield is down, infection takes over," said David Price, a biologist at Bayer Corporation's Vero Beach, Fla., laboratory. "With Premise, termites don't get the chance to fight back."

SEEING IS BELIEVING.

Visitors to the Bayer booth at the National Pest Control Association's convention and trade show in San Diego in October had the opportunity to witness Premise Plus Nature in action. Live demonstrations showed the one-day, two-day and five-day effects Premise has on termites.

"With the demonstrations you can see how Premise Plus Nature works," said Price. "You can see that the exposed ter-mites no longer feed or groom. You can even watch the termites die."

Research has been conducted at the University of Florida to examine the synergy between Premise and nature, specifically the termite's natural defense system. In one specific study, glass cover slips were sprayed with fungal spores and placed in the feeding and tunneling areas of laboratory termite colonies. In the control colony where Premise was not applied, the spores were removed by termite activity in a few hours. This scenario mimics what happens with termites in the soil on a day-to-day basis; termites destroy fungi by grooming themselves and each other which keeps their soil environment clean.

In the environment where Premise was present, the fungi began developing in just one day. The termites did not re-move the spores. In an outside environment, these spores would proceed to attach themselves to the termites, germinate and cause death.

Research illustrates how Premise interferes with feeding, grooming and colony maintenance in such a way that termites can't protect themselves from pathogenic fungi.

"Premise Plus Nature means value-added termite control," said Dr. Mike Ruizzo, pest control research product manager for Bayer Corporation. "Premise allows nature to take over and destroy the termites."

http://www.pctonline.com/Article.aspx?article_id=39807