ABSTRACT
Ontario has suffered a major decimation of its bee populations since 2007. Although only 15% of the Canadian bee yards are in Ontario, they represent 50% of the beekeepers in Canada.1 As a result, Ontario is in the midst of a controversy between the environmental groups on one side and the pesticide companies on the other. This has polarized beekeepers into two camps. Both sides agree bees are very important and any substance that kills bees in significant doses is detrimental to the farmers and the commercial honey crop. What they do not agree about is which, if any, pesticides should be used, the positive and negative effects of the pesticides, and what level of dosages are acceptable, if any. Those who take the pesticide companies’ position claim other factors are causing the bees to die and that some Ontario beekeepers are just causing problems by agitating to ban a type of pesticide known as neonicotinoids.2 Even some beekeepers are against any ban on these pesticides and do not believe they are harmful. This is indicated by suggestions that “hobby
1 Claire Brownell, “Bees, Bans and Bungling: How an Anti-Pesticide Campaign May Spell Serious Trouble”, Financial Post, November 7, 2014, accessed 8 March 2016, para. 13, https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/bees-bans-and-bunglinghow-an-anti-pesticide-campaign-may-spell-serious-trouble.
