Why the Bee Apocalypse Won’t Stop

A joint report by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture says the federal agencies will have to do more testing to be sure if pesticide is bad for bees.

Apparently basic common sense doesn’t factor in.

This report comes just days after the European Union’s recent announcement that three major types of pesticides produced by Biotech giants Syngenta and Bayer will be banned across all 27 member states specifically because research has proven all of these pesticides are contributing to the deaths of honeybees en masse.

Why is this a big deal? Because bees are responsible for pollinating over 100 crops. No bees, no crops. Bees equal food. Some have even estimated that as much as one out of every three bites of food we eat is there because of bees.

In response to the EU ban, CNN reported that Syngenta’s Chief Technology Officer gave the following statement:

“Instead of banning these products, the commission should now take the opportunity to address the real reasons for bee health decline: Disease, viruses and loss of habitat and nutrition.”

In a finding that will really *shock* most of you, it would appear the EPA and USDA have the same exact talking points as the Syngenta guy on their latest report. All have noted every reason except pesticides for why bees everywhere are dying, relegating the lucrative chemicals to the backburner with a statement about how more testing has to be done to be sure that pesticide is bad for bees.

Well how about this, USDA and EPA: is pesticide good for bees? Using the aforementioned common sense, I’m going to go with “no”.

And since more pesticide is being used now in greater quantities than ever before in the history of time on this planet, it seems plausible enough that it could maybe possibly be a contributing factor to bee decline.

There are so many reasons not to trust the USDA or EPA on this, that you would fall asleep reading it if I truly listed them all here.

Instead, I’m just going to type the top three that instantly come to mind.

Reason Number One: Monsanto Bought a Bee Research Firm

Not only did multi-billion-dollar pesticide manufacturer Monsanto buy a bee research firm in 2011, it bought one of the leading bee research firms that was specifically looking into reasons for Colony Collapse Disorder in bees. Now that Beelogics is owned by Monsanto (did I mention they make lots and lots of pesticide? They do), its scientists will surely look everywhere else that isn’t pesticides as to the cause for mass bee die-offs.

Why is this significant to the USDA?

According to Natural News:

The USDA, in fact, considers Beeologics to be one of the foremost bee research organizations in the world, as does the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the mainstream media and “leading entomologists” worldwide, according to the company.

So now the USDA needs “more research” into whether or not pesticide harms bees. Hm, I wonder, who might they get to carry out such research? Oh, I know! Well, one of the ‘foremost bee research organizations in the world (owned by Monsanto)’ of course!

Reason Number Two: The USDA Basically Subsidizes the Biotech Industry

One of the USDA’s four strategic goals is to “Help America Promote Agricultural Production and Biotechnology Exports as America Works to Increase Food Security.”

There you have it. Our government sends genetically modified organism (GMO) filled food aid to the developing world. Biotech’s GMOs are openly listed in the USDA’s annual budget requests. Taxpayers pay for it. (‘Food security’, by the way, is a specific Orwellian buzzphrase that allows the food supply to be controlled on a global scale, and our government is leading the way for genetically modified dominance through it. One conspicuous example of this is using “food as a weapon” to combat developing world populations in the name of national security.)

Reason Number Three: This.

Sing along: “The revolving door on the government goes round and round, round and round, ROUND AND ROUND…”

Notice both the EPA and USDA are listed.

The current head of the USDA is Secretary Thomas Vilsack, the former Iowa Governor who openly promoted biotechnology on all fronts including pushing genetically modified foods and the open-air testing of pharmaceutical crops. Vilsack couldn’t be more in favor of GMO if he got paid every time one was planted. In fact, Obama lauded Vilsack’s visionary leadership on this point:

“PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA: To lead a Department of Agriculture that helps unlock the potential of a twenty-first century agricultural economy, I can think of no one better than Tom Vilsack. As governor of one of our most abundant farm states, he led with vision, promoting biotech to strengthen our farmers and fostering an agricultural economy of the future that not only grows the food we eat, but the energy that we use. Tom understands that the solution to our energy crisis will be found not in oil fields abroad, but in our farm fields here at home. That’s the kind of leader I want in my cabinet.”

Vilsack (once named Biotechnology Industry Organization’s ‘Governor of the Year’) now runs a $95 billion budget and a staff of more than 105,000 people at the USDA.

It’s enough to make you sick.

And it’ll keep making the bees sick, too.