Reinvent Your Chocolate Stash

Like my mother, I usually keep a bar of dark chocolate hidden in the refrigerator, or buried behind the quinoa in the cupboard.  But, for those of us looking to improve our health, chocolate is not on the top of our grocery list of beneficial superfoods.  

Newsflash: we’ve been eating the wrong kind of chocolate!  The adverse affects of chocolate: cavities, diabetes, weight gain, are all caused by the dairy, sugars, and other fillers added to the dark chocolate I (and my mother) have stashed in the fridge.

Raw, organic cacao can actually prevent cavities, regulate blood sugar, and promote weight loss.  It is also the highest whole food source of magnesium (which we could all use more of), and a great energizer.  

You’re thinking, okay, great, but does it taste as good?  

YES!  

The Gnosis Chocolate Simplicity Bar, has the same dark chocolate taste as your favorite go-to brand, but with a richer, melt in your mouth quality that is out of this world. (I’m indulging as we speak … Yum!!)  

Try one out, share it with your mother, enjoy yourself, and bee healthy.  To purchase this perk, head over to http://www.indiegogo.com/honeycolony?a=581852 and support the HoneyColony campaign!

 by Whitney Ullom

The Perfect Storm of Autoimmune Disease

Being the persistent and relentless journalist that I am, it was no surprise that my foray into the world of autoimmunity also became a self-assigned feature article. I often injected myself into stories.

When I wrote about the cultic properties of Amway, I attended meetings and watched distributors draw circles on boards while conspicuously squirting Sweet Shot, their Amway breath freshener into their mouths.  

When I wrote about the psychological aspects of Plushies – humans who have sex with stuffed animals – I infiltrated their list serve and posed as a plushiefile called Moushiepuss.

And when I wrote about Patti Stanger’s millionaire club for Penthouse Magazine (long before she became Bravo’s Millionaire Matchmaker, lost weight and paired up with the Papaya King to crate her own gluten-free chili dog), I pretended I was a gold digger and participated in several rounds of speed dating.

Yup I’ve come a long ways since then. I’ve traveled from the root chakra all the way up to the celestial world of bee-ings. I tell myself I’ve been given a second chance, survived death to contribute something meaningful and global to the planet.

Like the bee, I too am now a canary in the coal mine. And like my sisters, I am also a messenger with something to share about our environmentally-too-toxic existence.

What had I been exposed to in the past six months that contributed to (or was solely responsible for) the ongoing every day pain I was now experiencing? Not only did my old injuries oddly hurt, but new ones did too. Every day different muscles ached. Today it was my calves tomorrow perhaps my upper back. It felt as though I had been pummeled by something. Where had my stamina disappeared to? Gone were the days were I could bike across town or do burpees in between lifting weights. Now I had persevere to finish a hike or yoga class.

After rattling my brain, I came up with suspects that created the Perfect Storm, prompting my immune system to attack itself:

Pesticide Kill

This past September, I showed Vanishing of the Bees at the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development’s Environmental Film Festival in the Dominican Republic.  Prior to going to the event in Santo Domingo, my boyfriend rented a condo in a small town called Juan Dolio, set up along four interrupted stretches of road, following the shoreline. Online travel sites claimed you could “jog or cycle in safety,” however we were forbidden from walking to a restaurant merely five minutes away. Oh and did I mention we were surrounded by rifle-toting security guards 24/7?

During our last afternoon there, I heard a horrible loud noise outside our casa. I assumed it was a leaf blower and strutted outside to ask the gardener to turn the damn thing off since it was drowning the last sounds of ocean I would be hearing for who knows how long. I learned that the ghost buster gadget on his back was not a leaf blower but a pesticide applicator. I learned this because a) when he turned around and I noticed hombre was wearing a gasmask and 2) a mist of poisons wafted my way. He was seemingly fumigating mosquitos by the sea. Mosquitos which sparrows would undoubtedly soon be eating.

“Basta, Basta,” I yelled, which means stop in Italian not Spanish.

It was too late. I’d inhaled a woof of poison. I chased him to the front of the house where he finally turned the machine off. Security guards gathered around with their guns. We stood there as chemicals gushed out of his hose, splashing onto the cement. He left somewhat confused.

When I saw the owner an hour later, she apologized but again I don’t think she really knew why. And her inauthenticity showed me she also didn’t care.

Candida Albicans

I am an anti anti-biotics kind of chick, and yet I was forced to take them FOUR times in 2011.

Last April, I traveled to Vieques, Puerto Rico to housesit and take a much deserved break after four years of non-stop and I mean non-stop work on Vanishing of the Bees. It was also the beginning of my relationship and I was on a remote tropical island with my lover, a nearby swanky W Hotel  and only 9000 inhabitants. It was paradise sauf for the neighboring crazy roosters on steroids. (Cock fighting is still legal in Puerto Rico and to get the birds revved up they actually give them roids! But that’s another story).

They say that we exhibit unbelievable stamina through the toughest of times. But stress however eventually takes its toll. Overburdened, my body collapsed and I got a bad case of Strep Throat. I had not been sick like this in years. Despite copious amounts of garlic cloves, salt gargles, oregano oil drops, and visualizations I was not improving.

I was so sick and feverish that my boyfriend bribed the local pharmacist to sell him some antibiotics. There was no way I was going to wake up at five am with 102 fever and wait in a jam packed office for the one doctor on the island to give me what I already knew I needed. (I’d Googled my symptoms online and diagnosed myself.)

Later in the year, I experienced four different urinary tract infections. Within half an hour my pee would turn into blood, ruling out any chance of taking alternative remedies.

By the way, infections that demand antibiotic treatment do not arise de novo out of the air. Usually host immunity is poor. Interestingly, one of the most common infections seen with Lupus involves the urinary tract.

The repetitive use of antibiotics is a main cause of the infectious overgrowth microorganism known as Candida Albicans. Antibiotics do no distinguish good bacteria from bad. So when they are used in excess, ‘friendly bacteria’ and/or specific nutrients in the blood are destroyed. Host resistance is then lowered and the opportunistic organism begins to invade and colonize the body’s cells tissues and finally organs.

These colonized yeast fungi in turn release their own toxic chemicals into the blood that further attack the immune system, permitting the fungi to continue their tissue invasion and cause even more serious symptomatic disorders. Eventually the immune system has been challenged so often that it loses its ability to eradicate Candida.

Some of the most frequent Candida symptoms include: (I bolded the symptoms I was/am experiencing. Id’ have more if i wasn’t already so damn diligent with my diet.)

abdominal gas and bloating, headaches, migraines, excessive fatigue, cravings for alcohol, anxiety, vaginitis, rectal itching, cravings for sweets, inability to think clearly or concentrate, hyperactivity, mood swings, diarrhea, constipation, hyperactivity, itching, acne, eczema, depression, sinus inflammation, pre-menstrual syndrome, dizziness, poor memory, persistent cough, earaches, low sex drive, muscle weakness, irritability, learning difficulties, sensitivity to fragrances and/or other chemicals cognitive impairment, thrush, athlete’s foot, sore throat, indigestion, acid reflux, chronic pain.

Fungal yeast overgrowth in the human body is not taught in medical schools. So despite the fact that autopsies have found kidneys and other organs literally clogged with yeast cells most doctors have not had any training in fungal yeast and often disavow that it even exists.

The prevalence of today of Candida may be most directly related to the widespread societal exposure to antibiotics. Crazily they’re prescribed for colds, infections, acne, you name it. And let us not forget the additional consumption of antibiotic-treated foods such as meats, dairy poultry and eggs. Ten of thousands of human die each year from the drugs’ overuse. By the way antibiotics do not kill viruses, only bacteria.

I personally don’t take any synthetic birth control but for those who do, keep in mind that the female hormone progesterone enhances Candida growth. It is in excess in the post-ovulary days. The postmenstrual flare up is no surprise since blood is an excellent culture medium. The use of tampons may also be a fungus activator. A tampon is a foreign body used in a warm cavity filled with stale blood. Ew!

I experienced Candida years ago following the hit. Sticking to the Candida Control Diet is one of the most essential things that you need to do in order to get rid of overgrowth. The diet means no sugars of any kind, no wheat, dairy, or grains.

Let’s say you have been following this diet for three months and then decide to have a small scoop of ice cream. Presto! Your yeast is now alive and reproducing again. You’re now back to day one on the Candida diet. You simply must be vigilant in order to eradicate your overgrowth.

Environmental Toxins

A global crisis has emerged where autoimmune diseases now touch millions of Americans. And the figure is increasing at alarming rates. Scientists all over the world agree that autoimmune diseases are acquired thanks to some environmental trigger, genetic risk being the smaller part of the equation, writes Donna Jackson Nakazawa in her pioneering book The Autoimmune Epidemic.  

Toxins implicated in autoimmune diseases such as pesticides, solvents, industrial chemicals, even household cleaners and hair dyes are everywhere.

We now know that when bees store pollen grains that the pesticides and fungicides synergize. Well they are also interacting and synergizing within the immune cells of our bodies. And when the body’s immune system is occupied with an external threat, it may be more likely to misfire, which happens in conditions known as autoimmune disorders.

“They are sabotaging an extraordinarily complex and fine-tuned blueprint for healthy cellular communication,” says Nakazawa.

And the truth is that we are spilling, spraying, dumping, and coating thousands of chemicals in our food, soil, water and air.

“We are the environment. What we put into it, we also put into ourselves. What we do to it, we also do to ourselves,” she adds.

We are the bees.

Residual Trauma

I experienced a near-death experience. I was placed on a hospital bed in a the emergency corridor at Cedar’s Sinai for 24 hours without a sip of water & broken bones because they did not have a room available to operate. My entire body was stiff in rigamortis fashion from the impact. My boyfriend smuggled a sip of water and transfered it to me via a kiss. (The woman I am today would have demanded a sip of water. Who leaves a young woman dehydrated and doped up on morphine for a day?)

So in reality, who knows what the incredible jolt of being hit by hulking metal at 40 miles an hour does to a person. Or to me, Maryam and my unique genetic makeup and imprinted programming.

I do know that my body jammed in fight or flight. The stress affected my gut bacteria, fatigued my adrenals. My gut slowed down, the pain caused depression. And who knows what the true impacts are of having titanium living inside the body?

The brain and the integrity of the gut are intrinsically linked. In fact they’re inseparable. Did you know that more than ninety-five percent of the body’s serotonin is found in the gastrointestinal tract? And they’re tag-teaming capabilities directly impacts the immune system.  

In short, my system haywired.

Now taking into account the perfect storm I’ve just described, consider that a number of studies and proposed models of disease suggest that trauma may in part contribute to autoimmune diseases.

Despite the physical, emotional and spiritual work I’ve done over the past decade, the accident chinked up my armor and I still feel I have some residual trauma lodged in my body.

Here I was in a cross walk daydreaming of what I was going to cook my boyfriend for dinner – broiled salmon with mango sauce—when an immense force hurled into me. If the trauma was a sentence, it would read ‘life is not safe.’

To top it off, I was forced into an intensive course in patience because I developed “a non-union, which meant my broken bone was in “permanent failure” mode.

This planted another disastrous and malignant belief – ‘my body doesn’t know what it’s doing, so i better intervene and control everything.’

But as I continue to expand my consciousness and delete negative belief systems that oppress, all that is changing. In 2012, my declaration is: “my body knows what it’s doing.”

I am in a state of gratitude for this planet and the mysterious imperfect perfect way it flows and unfolds. And gratitude ladies and gents is alchemical magic. 

I am being asked to slow down and listen to my body and to the presence in each moment.

“In the name of the Light, I affirm I am in Perfect Health.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next installment will go into Lupus and Fibromyalgia and talk about the road to a healthier life.

Yet Another Study Implicates Systemic Pesticides

Yet another study reportedly will show that systemic pesticides – this time imidacloprid  — is linked to the sharp worldwide declines in honeybee colonies.  The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has found “convincing evidence” that imidacloprid is linked to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

“The significance of bees to agriculture cannot be underestimated,” says Chensheng (Alex) Lu, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health who led the study.

“And it apparently doesn’t take much of the pesticide to affect the bees. Our experiment included pesticide amounts below what is normally present in the environment.”

Hopefully all these recent studies that are catching up to what we already know, will make a difference. How much longer will we put corporate needs over people and planet? 

Lu and his co-authors hypothesized that the uptick in CCD resulted from the presence of a neonicotinoid introduced in the early 1990s. Not only are bees exposed to imidacloprid through nectar from plants, they can also ingest it via high-fructose corn syrup that beekeepers sometimes use to feed their bees. That’s if they have been living underneath a rock and are cheap and selfish.

Keep in mind that if you drink sodas or other products with HFCS, you are also taking in this disgusting pesticide! We’ve been dousing our corn seeds with imidacloprid in this country since 2005.

In the summer of 2010, the researchers conducted an in situ study in Worcester County, Mass. aimed at replicating how imidacloprid may have caused the CCD outbreak. Over a 23-week period, they monitored bees in four different bee yards; each yard had four hives treated with different levels of imidacloprid and one control hive.

After 12 weeks of imidacloprid dosing, all the bees were alive. But after 23 weeks, 15 out of 16 of the imidacloprid-treated hives—94%—had died. Those exposed to the highest levels of the pesticide died first.

The characteristics of the dead hives were consistent with CCD, said Lu; the hives were empty except for food stores, some pollen, and young bees, with few dead bees nearby. When other conditions cause hive collapse—such as disease or pests—many dead bees are typically found inside and outside the affected hives.

Strikingly, said Lu, it took only low levels of imidacloprid to cause hive collapse—less than what is typically used in crops or in areas where bees forage.

Scientists, policymakers, farmers, and beekeepers, alarmed at the sudden losses of between 30% and 90% of honeybee colonies since 2006, have posed numerous theories as to the cause of the collapse. While disease, varroa and migratory beekeeping lend to the problem. We at Vanishing of the Bees believe that the poisons are the ones compromising their delicate immune systems!  

The actual study, which was funded with a grant from Harvard University Center for the Environment, will appear in the June issue of the Bulletin of Insectology.

~~~~The False Allure of Science~~~~

I am thankful I was able to attend Beyond Pesticide’s 30th annual Pesticide Forum last week. The actual trip to New Haven from Los Angeles was quite hard on my bod but being the trooper that I am, I persevered.  I woke up at 4 am and flew all day to Newark and then proceeded to take a 2.5 hour train ride to Ct. After playing planes, trains and automobiles, I arrived att my hotel 14 hours later shattered with exhaustion.

But it was well worth it! I had the pleasure of attending panels on pesticides & health, genetic engineering, organic lawns, and the importance of protecting our pollinators. Keynote speakers included acclaimed ecologist and author Sandra Steingraber who explored the links between human rights and the environment as well as Gary Hirshberg, chairman of Stoneyfield Farm. 

And of course I got to catch up with the star of Vanishing of the Bees, bee man David Hackenberg who gave a talk and sat on a panel with entomologist Christian Krupke PhD of Purdue University and Peter Jenkins, attorney for the Center of Food Safety.

There are several studies coming out proving what we’ve known all along -systemic pesticides are harmful to bees. Recently Christian Krupke contributed to a study titled Multiple Routes of Pesticide Exposure for Honey Bees Living Near Agricultural Fields. 

Here are some of the highlights of the study. Incidentally this research was initiated in response to reports of bee kills at an apiary in Indiana during spring of 2010: 

~Neonicotinoids were (unsurprisingly) found in the soil of each field sampled, including unplanted fields. Plants such as dandelions, which are visited by foraging bees near said fields, were also contained by systemic pesticides!

~The insecticide clothiandidin was detected in pollen collected by the bees and stored in their hive. Pollen samples tested positive for neonicotinoids at levels roughly below 100 parts per billion.

~Several other agricultural chemicals were also detected in honey bee wax. A mixture of insecticides, miticides, fungicides and herbicides were found. And let’s not forget that when these come together they synergize and become up to 1000 times more toxic.  We don’t really have strong studies out there on synergism.

~ We have become a corn nation; last year, the Unite States planted 88.2 MILLION acres of maize and this number is expected to increase. Keep in mind that virtually all corn planted in this country is coated with neonicotinoid insecticides — mostly clothiandin and thiamexthoxam. These compounds are highly toxic to our bees.

“A single kernel contains several orders of magnitude of active ingredient more than the published LD50 values for honey bees.”  

And to add insult to injury, most of these crops are also genetically modified. 

~Compounds were found on dead bees and in the hive. Also found was the controversial herbicide atrazine.

~ Corn seed is sticky so to keep seeds flowing freely in the vacuum systems used in planters, they are mixed with talc. Excess talc used in the process is released during planting and routine planter cleaning procedures. Unfortunately large amounts of contaminated talc are blown into the environment. The exhausted talc showed extremely high levels of the insecticides - up to about 700,000 times the lethal contact dose for a bee.

The material is so concentrated, says Krupke, that even small amounts landing on flowering plants around a field can kill foragers or be transported to the hive in contaminated pollen. Needless to say efforts should be made to limit or eliminate talc emissions during planting.

~These compounds can persist for months or years meaning that other plants growing in these soils can also take up these compounds in leaf tissue or pollen.

~Bayer conveniently didn’t find the same results when they conducted their own shabby and limited testing in Canada. They tested on canola, which is only a minor crop in the US! Levels of clothianidin in bee-collected pollen were approximately 10 fold higher than reported from experiments conducted in canola grown from clothianidin-treated seed.

~Bees also ingest poisons when they drink the guttation droplets produced by plants grown from neonicotinoid treated seed. These droplets were shown to have enough pesticides to cause paralysis and eventual death.

~Rearing brood in comb contaminated with pesticides leads to delayed worker development. This means bees who aren’t yet ready to become foragers end up in the fields. So not only are their pollination skills compromised, there are less bees at home to take care of the colony and queen. This disrupts the entire harmony of the hive.

Beekeepers such as David Hackenberg also note that queens are ‘failing.’ So they are forced to requeen every few months, which is completely unnatural and only adds to the problem the hives are already experiencing. 

~

Beekeepers all over the planet from Florida to Slovenia have observed bees dying in relation to neonicotinoids years now. This serves as empirical data. Does it not? And yet we’ve had for studies in the US to catch up to what we already know. Meanwhile, bees and beings continue to do. This is what I call the false allure of science. 

10 Reasons to Stop Using Pesticides

Here are 10 reasons to stop using pesticides, inspired by Center for Environmental Health and brought to you by Beyond Pesticide’s 30th annual Pesticide Forum:

1) Pesticides don’t solve pest problems

If they did we wouldn’t repeatedly use them. Now would we?  Americans use more than a billion pounds of pesticides each year to combat pests on farm crops, in homes, places of business, schools, parks, hospitals, and other public places. YUCK! Instead, it would be wise to change the conditions that make pests thrive. 

2) Pesticides are hazardous to our health

Imagine some people don’t believe this! According to the Environmental Protection Agency (who regularly sleeps with all of the pharmaceutical companies): Adverse effects of pesticide exposure range from mild symptoms of dizziness and nausea to serious, long-term neurological, developmental and reproductive disorders. 

For instance, Glyphosate, better known as Roundup, damages genes and causes birth defects. And it’s the most widely used herbicide in the United States; we use almost 200 million pounds a year. 

3) Pesticides cause special problems for children

Let’s remember that for their size, children drink more water and eat more food and drink than adults, and both of these can be contaminated with pesticides. Their play increases their potential exposure. Also, their growing and developing bodies can be particularly sensitive. Children are more exposed and more susceptible to pesticides than are adults.

As Dr. Lynn Goldman wrote while she was an assistant administrator at EPA, “As a  pediatrician, I know that children can be more vulnerable to environmental contaminants.”

4) Pesticides contaminate our food

Even after peeling and washing fruits and veggies, about 60 percent of our produce still contain more than one pesticide, says the USDA.

5) Pesticides are particularly hazardous for farmers, farm workers and people who live near them

There are no comprehensive systems for keeping track of the number and type of pesticide illnesses in the U.S., but research shows that farmers and farmworkers face risks of acute  poisoning and long-term illness.

Because agricultural pesticides account for over 75 percent of total U.S. pesticide use, farmers and farmworkers are often exposed to large amounts of pesticides. EPA has estimated that between 10 and 20 thousand pesticide-related illnesses occur among farmers and farmworkers every year, but the agency believes that these large numbers are actually serious underestimates.

Mothers meanwhile who live near farms and are exposed to insecticides are more likely to have children with ADHD.

6) Pesticides are dangerous to pets

Pesticide poisoning of pets is common. For example, in 1990 the American Association of Poison Control Centers received over 11,000 calls regarding pesticide-poisoned pets.Only antifreeze causes more pet poisoning deaths than rodent control pesticides and organophosphate insecticides.

Since when do canines get cancer? 

7) Pesticides contaminate our water

According to a national study, 90 percent of our nation’s urban streams are contaminated with pesticides.

8)  Pesticides are not good for fish and birds

I am sorry Rachel Carson. You tried. You really did. 

9) Pesticides Health & Safety Testing are conducted by chemical companies 

As we mention in our film, this is a bad case of the Fox guarding the hen house. And my oh my what a surprise that they find all the poisons relatively safe. Well be certain that doesn’t mean a thang!

10) Pesticides just have too many secrets 

Where are pesticides used? When? How much? What’s in them? We almost never have good answers to these questions. And inactive Ingredients are really not inactive at all. 

The Buzz Behind the Monsanto/Beeolgics Acquisition

There was quite a stir amongst beekeepers and anti-gmo activists this past October 2011 when chemical and seed giant Monsanto purchased Beeologics , a small company best known for its  “groundbreaking research” vis a vis the application of RNAi technology on honeybees, a mechanism meant to block gene expression.

This was Monsanto’s first acquisition of a pest control biotech company. Yet surprisingly the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Since its inception in 2007, Beeologics has been developing Remebee,® an anti-viral treatment for use in honeybees affected with Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV), a bee-specific virus, which originated from Australia and found and named in Israel in 2002.

I first heard about Beelogics, which is headquartered both in both Florida and Israel, in April 2008 when President and CEO Eyal Ben-Chanoch reached out to Vanishing of the Bees via email after viewing our trailer and spotting some familiar faces.

Eyal explained that Beeologics was assembling scientists, beekeepers and business people “to create the missing corporate support” in an industry that traditionally has only been supported by a few hardware manufacturers. Sure there were hives, tools, bee suits and the like being offered but very little had been invested in technology and medicine for the bees — until Beeologics came along that is.

To put things in context, many scientists were all abuzz about IAPV at the time. Many firmly believed that it was a primer for Colony Collapse Disorder. Remembee, meanwhile, was regarded as a first line of defense to control the virus and its effect on bee mortality.  

We inoculate humans, why not insects?

Eyal assured me that Remembee wasn’t another “snake oil” product but rather a treatment developed by ‘real’ scientists at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. They were testing the product with the help of the University of Florida, Penn State, the USDA/ARS and some of the largest beekeepers in the country including David Hackenberg, CCD’s poster child and the main character in our film.

While CCD is a complex issue no-doubt, I told Eyal that our findings pointed to another cause: newfangled chemicals called systemic pesticides. Instead of being applied to leaves, they are enrobed on seeds and/or entrenched in the soil, allowing for the poison to literally become part of the plant.

Consequently, honeybees bring the systemics back to the hive in the form of pollen and nectar and store it in their honeycomb. When future generations dip into their reserves, they ingest toxins that target their central nervous system, affect their navigational capabilities and impair their memory. More importantly, the chemicals compromise their immune system – the number one key to fighting any kind of insult to the body, including a virus like IAPV. 

As a scientist Eyal didn’t quite agree with our conclusions.  

“While I am also concerned with the world we are going to leave to our children, those who are using so-called facts that are based on pseudo or incomplete scientific work are as dangerous as the chemical companies who don’t release the data they have,” he concluded.

Which brings us back to Monsanto, arguably the most detested chemical company on the face of the planet.

Why were they drawn to Beeologics? Was it because the competition (Syngenta and Bayer Crop Science) had also expressed interest? Or was it because they’d identified some low-hanging fruit to add to their portfolio of proprietary life forms? Perhaps Monsanto, which boasts a revenue of more than $10.5 billion per year, plans on buying anything and everything to do with gene manipulation?

Considering that the honey bee has been sequenced, how long before we bear witness to a genetically modified bee? I’ve been saying this since 2008 for the record!

… Introducing pesticide-resistant SUPER BEE Patent # 2457842149…

If seeds are any indication, Apis Melifera may also soon belong to Monsanto. Kill the bees with GM and pesticides, offer a band aid solution by creating a bee that is resistant to all the crap peddled on the market and then persuade/force beekeepers to buy Monsanto bees or else. It’s wicked genius.  

But surely Monsanto and many others would call all of this paranoid phooey.

Take one well known scientist/beekeeper’s take on the subject.  

“Honeybees aren’t an organism that anyone, who understands anything about their molecular biology, would advise as a subject for genetic modification,” he recently told colleagues on the online Bee List.  “Do you really think that Monsanto envisions that there would be any substantive return on investment on a patented bee? It would need to be propagated by instrumental insemination, so there would be a very limited market. This discussion is beginning to sound like the Twilight Zone.”

Insect inoculation may be the latest rave, but is it the best solution?

Today we know that subsequent research failed to confirm a link between CCD and IAPV and found that although IAPV can result in honey bee mortality, the symptoms are not consistent with those of bees dying from CCD.

With that said, why does Monsanto’s site claim that ”the Remebee® product line is now proving to be a viable solution to “Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), “Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) infection and other diseases that threaten the world’s bee population.” 

Is this just bad advertising copy?

Opponents meanwhile wonder whether using an antiviral agent will result in any significant decline of CCD when we now know that bees around the country and across the world are constantly exposed to an array of highly toxic pesticides that are known to have serious effects not only on our virgins of toil, but a range of other pollinators.

Perhaps anti-viral remedies are the next generation of products used to combat agricultural pests and pathogens but they don’t deal with the root of our problems such as native bee extinctions & unsustainable agriculture (ie GE crops, pesticides and herbicides).  In the end we will still have a polluted environment.

Furthermore there may likely be unknown effects in gene expression, in anti-viral abilities, and in their cability to evolve inherent defenses against viruses, etc, adds Brian Dykstra, who holds a degree in both environmental policy & in progress pollination biology. He also manages Ethnobeeology’s FB page.

And yet Beeologics is confident that the acquisition comes at an ideal time and that they are in safe hands.

Shortly after the purchase, Nitzan Paldi (CTO and co-founder of Beeologics) posted a blog where he stated that Monsanto’s “leadership team and scientists are just as passionate about helping growers and agriculture as [they] are.”

“As a scientist, it’s gratifying that research we’ve been working on may have an opportunity to be tapped for much broader use in agriculture; potentially helping growers around the world meet the ever increasing demands being placed on agriculture worldwide.” 

And if you still have doubts fear not!

According to a Monsanto press release we should not be concerned, because it will be business as usual. Beelogics will continue to “promote bee health” under the new ownership. And Monsanto will simply use “the base technology from Beeologics as a part of its continuing discovery and development pipeline.” Whatever that means.  

How is using science to circumvent the laws of nature ever a positive thing? Facelifts and stem cell research aside of course.

To further reassure folks, the press release goes to describe Monsanto as “a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improves farm productivity and food quality.” They even state that they are into sustainability. 

Jaw-dropping. Apparently Monsanto is experiencing delusions about its identity. Because the Monsanto most know is pretty much a ‘U.S. backed bioterrorist organization worthy of international intervention.’

In the past two decades, Monsanto’s seed monopoly has grown so powerful that they control the genetics of nearly 90% of five major commodity crops including corn, soybeans, cotton, canola and sugar beets!!

They make gobs of cash and yet sue farmers in poor countries who make less than $500 per year. In many cases farmers are forced to stop growing certain organic and conventional crops to avoid genetic contamination and potential lawsuits. Between 1997 and 2010, Monsanto admits to filing 144 lawsuits against America’s farmers, while settling another 700 out of court for undisclosed amounts. Due to these aggressive lawsuits, Monsanto has created an atmosphere of fear in rural America and driven dozens of farmers into bankruptcy.

As one person recently remarked on our FB page, “it’s a shitty business model to create something that can’t be controlled except by suing the hell out of people.”

And in India, thousands of farmers have committed suicide- by drinking insecticide no less- because they were promised harvests and income only to have crops fail and debts surmount thanks to their newly planted GM seeds. 

So you be the judge. Is Monsanto really getting into bee protection?  Or is this another example of man tampering with the bees - with seemingly a lot more money?

Remembee is currently being reviewed for potential commercial sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Another product RemebeePro, is also on its way. For more on RNA interference watch this video.

***STAY TUNED A Q&A WITH BEEOLOGICS AND MONSANTO…..

A Colony of French Beekeepers Occupy Monsanto, land meeting with government officials‏

More than 100 French beekeepers and anti-gmo protestors judiciously managed to enter and occupy the premises of Monsanto’s administrative building in Monbéqui, France last Friday for several hours, demanding the government ban GMO corn in the country.

A vanguard of about 20 people keenly used a Trojan Horse technique by passing for a delivery truck. Once the gate was opened the rest of the group swarmed in. The element of surprise was absolute.

When the police arrived, the occupiers were already inside the building, dressed in full beekeeping regalia with beehives, smokers and enough food to last them a while (see video).

As many of you know, the coexistence of GMO open fields and beekeeping is incompatible. The corn tassles, the bees collect the pollen and often times the hive collapses soon after.  Beekeepers are also worried that honey contaminated by GMO corn will be declared unsuitable for human consumption.

It was in February 2008—in keeping with the Precautionary Principle— that France first adopted a safeguard clause to suspend the cultivation of Mon 810 GM corn, stating that it posed serious threats to the environment.

Meanwhile during September of last year the European Court of Justice determined that a German beekeeper’s honey was unmarketable because it contained the presence of honey tainted with genetically modified Monsanto 810 corn.

Strangely a few days later, the exact same court invalidated the 2008 safety clause, regarding this type of corn.

Obviously the recent ruling deeply distressed French beekeepers who have already witnessed their bees shrink at an alarming rate since systemic pesticides such as Régent & Gaucho were first introduced more than a decade ago.

Beekeepers want an immediate government decision with a decree until a safeguard clause is put into action, again.

As a result of the protest, beekeepers landed a meeting with the Secretary of Ecology on January 13th to discuss a desire to ban the transport and commerce of GMO corn seed.

“The government is committed at the highest level to maintaining the ban on growing Monsanto 810 and notable for the next growing season,” the minister of Ecology recently stated.

The occupiers eventually left the premises peacefully under the watchful eyes of 20 or so policemen present on the site.

“We succeeded in putting in place a nation-wide demonstration with people who joined us from the four-corners of France, from Ardèche and Brittany to the Puy -de- Dôme,” said Jean Sabench, a beekeeper from Saint-Pons-de-Tomières. ”We came to Monbéqui to tell Monsanto to stop their nasty production. We do not want to see them destroy everything in their path. The MON 810 will make us bankrupt. We need to stop this!”

This article was translated with the help of Livia Calvet, a freelance translator based in New York City.”  The original French article can be found here.

Wake the buzz-up before our pollinators are genetically modified.

What if Monsanto were to convince farmer’s that it’s better to use Beeologic’s Remembee-inoculated honeybees in their fields? Not only will these new bees be CCD-resistant but they’ll offer ease of mind, guaranteed crops, and a bigger yield! 

Our society already subscribes to a medicated-life so what’s so wrong with vaccinating insects? Seems like the next natural step. No? Especially if you already place your faith in the hands of medical science.

And what if Monsanto eventually splices a terminator gene into our virgin sisters of toil? May sound sci-fi but it’s a possibility. And which commercial beekeeper or farmer can afford another bad year? They may feel compelled to compromise their own values because they too need to put food on their own tables (organic no doubt). 

Beeologics is creating a product they’ll hope will make bees pathogen-free but in truth the entire species risks being infected if we genetically modify these angels of agriculture.  

“Basically if the bees eat Remebee there are likely to be unknown effects in gene expression, in anti-viral abilities, in their ability to evolve inherent defenses against viruses, etc, says Brian Dykstra, the administrator behind Ethnobeeology FB page who holds a BS in Environmental Policy and an MS in progress pollination biology.

“MicroRNAs have been studied extensively since their discovery ten years ago, and have been linked to human diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes. The Chinese research provides the first example of ingested plant microRNA surviving digestion and influencing human cell function,” reads the article.

Monsanto’s website however claims that, “there is no need for, or value in testing the safety of GM foods in humans.”

“This viewpoint, while good for business, is built on an understanding of genetics circa 1950. It follows what’s called the “Central Dogma” of genetics, which postulates a one-way chain of command between DNA and the cells DNA governs.”

Basically “the Chinese RNA study threatens to blast a major hole in Monsanto’s claim. It means that DNA can code for microRNA, which can, in fact, be hazardous.”

There are those of us who believe that we are abusing Mother Earth by playing God. And that the earth, animals and plants embody an ancient wisdom. 

So what do we do? Do we become green soldiers; tackle our perpetrators, kidnap them to the jungle and force them to do ayahuesca? Give them green smoothies until they wean off sugar and greed and come to their senses and see the light? 

What we can do is spread the buzz about food justice. We must gather in numbers. And make sure are foods are labeled as being genetically modified by getting it on the ballot. 

Our bees don’t need vaccines, they need us to stop the poisonous attacks on their already sensitive immune systems. They — like us — need Clean food. Clean water. Clean air. Rich soil. They are being forced to pollinate poison-filled crops that are poisoning us and them in the process.

Not Sweet.