Minnesota compensated two beekeepers for severe damage to hives caused by neonicotinoid insecticide dust from the field where a neighbor was planting corn, says the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It was the first test of a landmark environmental law, says the newspaper.
“Investigators from the state Department of Agriculture confirmed, in effect, what beekeepers have been saying for years: Even when used according to law, the most widely used class of insecticides in the world are acutely toxic to honeybees under routine circumstances.” The state senator who authored the compensation law says the decision is a precedent in the debate over neonicotinoids, which have been blamed as a factor in the decline of honeybees and other pollinators.
A spokesman for Bayer CropScience, maker of the insecticide, declined to comment on the case. Bayer says the insecticides are safe.
“The insecticide in question, clothianidin, is used as a coating on most of the corn and soybean seeds used in American agriculture. Farmers use it as a preventive to protect seedlings from insects in the soil,” said the Star Tribune. The EPA says one neonic, “imidacloprid, showed clear damage to hives and honey production even when used appropriately on some crops. Its review of clothianidin is expected to be complete by the end of this year.”
Compensation is capped at $20,000 overall or $230 a hive. Since 2014, the state investigated 10 complaints and substantiated one of them. The head of the Minnesota Honey Producers said the compensation amounts are too low to encourage beekeepers to apply for damages.