Bee Pesticide Mass Death 0817"Disaster expands, nearly half of beekeepers in Nantou affected, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine: should be drift contamination from pesticide spraying on betel nut

Text by Upstream/Downstream reporters Lin Pei-chun, Tsai Chia-shan

Puli has seen large-scale bee mass deaths break out for three consecutive years. On the 14th, Upstream/Downstream exclusively exposed the disaster and went to bee farms to collect samples for testing. Yesterday (the 16th), the results came out: both bee carcasses and pollen tested positive for the pesticide fipronil, which is extremely toxic to bees, as well as residues of seven other pesticides. It is suspected that uncontrolled pesticide use on surrounding crops has caused tens of millions of bees to meet death year after year.

After the media expose, the government urgently launched an investigation, and the disaster was more severe than expected. According to a survey by the Miaoli District Agricultural Research and Extension Station and the beekeeping association, 40 of Nantou County's 94 beekeepers have been affected, a rate of nearly 50 percent. Beekeepers in Puli and Zhongliao suffered the worst damage, with milder cases losing about 10 percent and the most severe cases losing as much as 90 percent.

Who is to blame for the bee poisoning? The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine confirmed today (the 17th) that fipronil was indeed the cause of acute poisoning in the bees, and that based on past pollen test reports from sampling, most of it came from Bidens pilosa and betel nut pollen, leading to the assessment that it was drift contamination from pesticide spraying on betel nut. The bureau solemnly stated that there are currently no approved pesticides for use on betel nut, and that it will strengthen enforcement against illegal spraying together with local governments, and that anyone caught will be dealt with according to law. For those responsible for causing the bee poisoning, the bureau will assist beekeepers in seeking compensation.