ACTION ALERT: SAVE THE POLLINATORS!!!
Dear Friends,
Carbaryl, an old and extremely persistent carbamate pesticide, you may know too well is up for review before the U.S. EPA and we need your help!
We are looking for pollinator groups, beekeepers, and university researchers/professors in relevant fields to sign-on to these comments.
The main points in the comments implore the EPA to stop turning a blind eye to mass bee kills from carbaryl. We suggest the agency change the bee caution for pesticides with long toxic residuals that kill bees long after application. Evidence has shown that the bee caution must be more protective to preserve our valuable pollinators. We suggest the bee caution read:
“This product is highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment or residues on blooming crops or weeds. Do not apply this product or allow it to drift to blooming crops or weeds.”
The only difference between our suggestion and the current label warning is that we removed “when bees are visiting” or “when bees are foraging” from the tailend of the cautionary statement. Why? Because where there is bloom, there are bees!
We think this makes the most sense. In some places like California the bee caution does apply to bloom and not just visiting bees! Due to unreasonable hazards to humans and pollinators, and given the existence of less persistent alternatives, we also suggest the agency cancel the uses for grasshopper and mosquito control and forestry applications.
We hope you’ll join us in putting an end to the degradation of our pollinators.
Please read the comments and if you would like to sign on, contact Shawnee Hoover at Beyond Pesticides by email at or by phone at 202-543-5450 no later than Wednesday, December 22, 2004 (end of the day, Eastern time).
Should you have any questions, or wish to discuss these comments further, please contact Jeff Anderson at (209) 847-4731.