Bug Blog
Protect school kids from pesticides
Tsawwassen, Delta B.C.
Children need to be protected when farmers apply pesticides near schools.
Most farms are industrial by nature, with dangerous equipment, noise, dust and chemicals, including pesticides. We need children to be safe in our schools, yet because land use is a local affair, school locations are exempt from the general plan and other measures designed to ensure thoughtful planning. As a result, schools are sometimes built on prime agricultural land in the middle of existing farm operations. What kind of logic is that?
Modern farms rely on pesticides, and so it is the responsibility of the Corporation of Delta to create strong regulations to keep schoolchildren and staff safe. There are two keys to a successful statewide strategy: good communication and reasonable restrictions.
Farmers have the right to use pesticides safely to grow the food that Delta and much of the lower mainland relies on. But Delta residence want to know what chemicals are being applied in their neighborhoods, and what is used to grow their food. Go Green Pest Control Delta Pest Control Tsawwassen Pest Control Ladner Pest Control Randy Bilesky 
Greedy Rat
I went to check this rodent “Bait Station” yesterday and had a surprise of the day.
The poor rat was so full from eating the bait that he decided to have a snooze in the station. Needless to say he is now in rodent heaven. The bait station is against a fence that runs parallel to the Ladner slough which is a breeding ground for everything from mosquitos to rats to skunks. With proper maintenance: keeping the area clear of debris, these rodents have no where to hide. The picture tells the real story. Go Green Pest Control Delta Pest Control Tsawwassen Pest Control Ladner Pest Control Randy Bilesky
Save Bees From Pesticides
New campaign to save bees from pesticides
Neonicotinoids are neuro-active insecticides similar in chemical structure to nicotine. It may also be that bees are not the only form of wildlife affected.The loss of bees worldwide has been puzzling scientists. Bees pollinate over one-third of food crops and their loss is set to cause ecological problems and will impact on the availability of food. Reasons for a decline in bees include mite infestation, loss of habitat and the use of pesticides. Establishing a crop without insecticides has become far more difficult and expensive without neonicotinoid seed dressing. A successful campaign to stop Home Depot from selling neonicotinoid pesticides has worked. Go Green Pest Control Tsawwassen Pest Control Ladner Pest Control Delta Pest Control Randy Bilesky
Obese mice produce disease cells
Obesity may be tougher on male immune systems than females. Male mice may have the tendency to produce higher levels of white blood cells that encourage inflammation, which contributes to the negative health consequences of obesity. Male mice are most often studied because their risk for developing these diseases.
Obesity does not trigger inflammation in female mice the way it did in males. While it has long been known that male and female immune systems are different. Young reproductive-age female mice that became obese, produce only a mild inflammatory white blood cell response. In male mice, however, obesity made more active inflammatory white blood cells and enhanced their progenitors. This in turn made the male mice more prone to higher blood glucose and insulin levels, measures of diabetes. GO Green Pest Control Delta Pest Control Tsawwassen Pest Control Ladner Pest Control Randy Bilesky
Anti-Wasp Gadget
Declare war on wasps this summer
Shoo Away device confuses insects by blasting them with beams of moving light. A new hi-tech version of the notorious cork hat has been created in a bid to stop wasps from ruining barbeques.
The Shoo Away gizmo actually blasts the much-hated insects with small beams of light, baffling them using a similar trick employed by the corks which famously hang beneath the brim of Aussies’ headpieces. It comes fitted with two small rotating blades, which spin around and send out pinpoints of light to dazzle dive bombing wasps and keep them more than four feet away from your dinner table. Although it may not work for long as the draw is the food, and as long as that is there the insects will keep returning and they may eventually start ignoring this device. Go Green Pest Control Tsawwassen Pest Control Ladner Pest Control Delta Pest Control Randy Bilesky
Insecticide and School ?
Ottawa School to reopen doors
Students at Charles H. Hulse Public School will return to their regular classes today, more than a month after the elementary school was closed due to an insecticide that made some students and staff sick. The school has been undergoing renovations to remove insecticide residue. Some parents say they’re still upset with how the public board handled the situation. The school was closed three days after two dozen students and seven staff members started experiencing symptoms including watery eyes, itchy ears and nausea. On April 11, the school had been sprayed with Konk 400, an insecticide containing the chemical Propoxur. The chemical is intended for outdoor use and should not be used indoors, according to a Health Canada re-evaluation of the chemical done in 2014. School board officials are reviewing procedures to ensure similar incidents involving insecticides don’t happen again. Go Green Pest Control Delta Pest Control Tsawwassen Pest Control Ladner Pest Control Randy Bilesky
Bees Love This One Pesticide, But
Several recent studies point to a disturbing relationship between bees, which are essential for the health of the planet, and a particular class of pesticide known as nicotinoids.
Nicotine, the compound we all know and fear, is a natural substance. Plants produce it because it keeps bugs away. Hence the development of neonicotinoids, synthetic pesticides that are chemically very similar to nicotine. But a few recent studies further our understanding of just how dangerous they can be.
In some ways neonicotinoids seem ideal; they’re seldom harmful to mammals or birds that encounter them in the wild, but are toxic to insects. They’re extremely common in North America—imidacloprid, the most commonly used pesticide in the world, is a neonicotinoid—but in recent years, we’ve begun to realize its potential damage to our ecosystem. In 2013, the EU, after seeing studies linking neonicotinoids with honeybee colony collapse, restricted the use of some of these pesticides. And the science just keeps coming in.
There are a few studies that have been published in the past few weeks. One, published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal, finds, “these pesticides kill bee brain cells, rendering them unable to learn, gather food and reproduce.” Another, published in Nature, that bees, very dangerously, actually prefer plants that have been sprayed with these pesticides. And another, also, finds that if coated in neonicotinoids, even the mere seeds of plants “reduced wild bee density, solitary bee nesting, and bumblebee colony growth and reproduction under field conditions.”
This is an enormous problem. Bees are essential for pollinating plants and keeping crop ecosystems healthy. Hopefully the studies inspire more work that might eventually lead to regulation—anything to keep our bee populations healthy.
Delta Pest Control Ladner Pest Control Tsawwassen Pest Control Go Green Pest Control Randy Bilesky
plants carry deadly pesticide
Beekeepers warn store-bought plants may carry deadly pesticide
Environmentalists are warning the public over a pesticide they say is bad for bees. Manitoba Bureau Chief Jill Macyshon explains.
Beekeepers and scientists say some store-bought herbs, flowers and seeds may contain a pesticide linked to mass bee die-offs in North America.
Studies have linked neonicotinoid pesticides to an epidemic in the bee-farming community called colony collapse disorder, which is thought to be responsible for the deaths of millions of bees worldwide each year. The Ontario government has taken steps to limit neonicotinoid use in farming, but the pesticides are still used in other provinces and continue to pop up in store-bought plants across the country.
Experts haven’t determined the exact harm inflicted by neonicotoids, but bees exposed to the chemical have been known to become lost, confused and inefficient. In many cases, whole bee colonies die as a result of exposure.
Beekeepers and scientists say some store-bought herbs, flowers and seeds may contain a pesticide linked to mass bee die-offs in North America.
Several major retailers have committed to phasing out plants and seeds treated with neonicotinoid pesticides, but the chemicals are in widespread use and phasing them out will be slow. Seeds are often treated with the pesticide en masse, and plants that grow from those seeds are laced with it.
Backyard gardeners are encouraged to ask about neonicotinoids before buying plants at their local greenhouse.
Apiarists have seen a startling rise in bee deaths in recent years, and many blame the growing popularity of neonicotinoids.
Winnipeg-area apiarist Phil Veldhuis cares for about 1,200 hives and the effects of colony collapse disorder has hit his bees hard.
“Over half of my hives the last two years have collapsed,” Veldhuis told CTV Winnipeg last month. He says many apiarists have observed a rise in bee deaths in recent years, coinciding with the growing popularity of neonicotinoid pesticides.
“There’s a correlation that we’re concerned about,” Veldhuis said.
Pesticide companies have blamed the die-offs on changing weather patterns and pests, but studies have shown those to be minor factors in causing colony collapse disorder.
Delta Pest Control Ladner Pest Control Tsawwassen Pest Control Go Green Pest Control Randy Bilesky
Killed by bedbug insecticide
Second child dies after being exposed to bedbug insecticide
The two-year-old boy died Thursday while being treated at Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.
Imam Sherif El Sayid of the Al Rashid mosque told mourners about the boy’s death during the funeral for his eight-month-old sister, who died Sunday.
Allan Vinni, who is the lawyer for the Fort McMurray family, identified the boy as Zia-Ul Hasan Syed. His father is Syed Habib and the mother is Nida Habib.
RCMP have said the mother took her five children to the hospital in Fort McMurray on Sunday after they started vomiting. The baby girl died and two of the children were transferred to Edmonton for treatment.
Taj Mohammed, principal of the Fort McMurray Islamic School, said one child, believed to be about five years old, remained in hospital.
“All we know is that the second child has passed away,” he said. “The other one is still critical. The two who are with the parents are doing well.”
Mohammed said the parents are struggling to come to terms with what has happened to their children.
He said people are doing what they can to help the family, which moved to Alberta from Ontario a few years ago.
“This family needs support. They need all the prayers that all the people can give.”
The family had recently brought a type of aluminum phosphide back from a trip to Pakistan. The green tablets were placed around the apartment, particularly in one bedroom, to try to kill bedbugs.
Aluminum phosphide can cause long-term damage to a body’s liver, heart and kidneys.
The Canada Border Services Agency and RCMP have said they are investigating the case.
According to Health Canada’s website, imported pesticides must be regulated under the Pest Control Products Act and bear a Canadian label.
The poison is listed in Alberta as a Schedule 1 substance, meaning its availability and use is restricted to commercial applicators and trained farmers with licences. Each province has its own classification system.
Bees and Pesticides
It’s not a huge thing in the fight to reverse a dramatic population decline. The decline of the nation’s honeybee population started in the 1980s and has been blamed on a variety of factors, including neonicotinoids, a type of insecticide and other seed producers, and the varroa mite, a parasite that may contribute to colony collapse disorder. Bees are suffering the same fate as the monarch butterfly, which has seen its population hammered by the loss of milkweed that was once plentiful across the nation. Likewise, bees have lost considerable amounts of foraging area. Herbicide use has kind of eliminated that. The impact on honeybees has been substantial. There are an estimated 2.5 million honeybee colonies in the Canada today, less than half the population found in the 1940s. And given that bees are responsible for pollinating a quarter or more of the food that we consume, there could be significant financial costs to farmers — and consumers — if the bee population continues to dwindle. There needs to be stronger communication between beekeepers, sprayers and the farmers who use their services particularly when you factor in the reality of professional beekeepers who sell their pollination services. The professional operations, with hundreds or thousands of hives, are constantly on the move. They’ll stay in an area for three to four weeks before moving on to their next customer.
