Bees account for one-third of the food we eat. Every fruit, vegetable or nut that forms a flower like tomatoes, squash, almonds, and blueberries require pollination. Pollinators also account for billions of dollars in the global economy.

Colony Collapse Disorder is the phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a colony disappear and leave behind a queen, plenty of food and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and the queen. For almost a decade, CCD has been in the news. However, the actual cause is still unknown. Experts say many factors affect bee health: mites, viruses, bacteria, disease, poor nutrition, bee keeping practices, cross country transportation of hives, habitat loss, genetically modified plants, lack of genetic diversity, weather, and pesticides.

Up until June of this year, most of the focus was on finding out what the causes of CCD, including agricultural use of neonicotinoids as a seed coating and for other crop treatments.

But then 25,000-50,000 bumblebees and other insects were killed in Oregon after exposure to dinotefuran, a commonly used neonicotinoid. In that case, a property maintenance contractor applied the pesticide to 55 flowering linden trees in an effort to control aphids. As a result, the state of Oregon enacted a temporary ban on the use of 18 dinotefuran-based insecticides. The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) will reassess the temporary restriction after officials finish their investigation into the pesticide applications in question. The temporary ban only affects certain pesticide uses that could harm pollinators, including outdoor applications on lawns, landscape ornamentals, trees and crops. However, this incident put the spotlight on pesticide use in suburban and urban areas, bringing landscape and structural perimeter pesticide usage into the conversation.

Then in September, thousands of dead and twitching bees were found near honey bee colonies in a suburb of Minneapolis. Researchers at Minnesota's Department of Agriculture and the University of Minnesota's Bee Lab and Bee Squad have just reported that residues of fipronil were found in the dead bees. The state is investigating the incident and working to determine how the bees were exposed to fipronil residues.

The health of pollinators has received unprecedented attention in recent months, even garnering the cover story of the August 19 issue of Time magazine, and corresponding live Twitter chat on the subject, featuring guests from the EPA, USDA and author of The Beekeeper's Lament, Hannah Nordhaus.

In a recent cover story, Time magazine labeled the decline of bee health "the second Silent Spring." Consequently, with each passing week governments throughout the world are taking action to limit or restrict pesticide use to better protect pollinators.

A good example is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent label revisions to some neonicotinoid pesticide products that prohibit applications where bees are present. The changes apply to all products that have outdoor foliar use directions (except granulars) containing the active ingredients imidacloprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin or thiamethoxam regardless of formulation, concentration, or intended user.

The new language that will appear in the Directions for Use section on non-agricultural product labels states "Do not apply [insert name of product] while bees are foraging. Do not apply [insert name of product] to plants that are flowering. Only apply after all flower petals have fallen off." The new language will be accompanied by a bee icon to underscore the significance of the language.

A Pollinator Advisory Box will also appear on product labels. Click here to read additional information. The new labels will appear on products in early 2014. This label revision is likely the first in a series of label changes aimed at protecting bees.

NPMA staff is deeply engaged in the bee health issue and is taking a number of steps to raise awareness of the issue within the industry while also working with federal and state regulatory officials to educate them about the importance of retaining key PMP use patterns. Specific actions include:

Meeting with senior EPA officials to provide them with information on important PMP uses and suggestions for label language that is both protective of bees, while allowing critical PMP uses to continue,
Sending a stewardship email out to all NPMA members,
Scheduling a webinar/conference call with the NPMA government affairs and technical committees and PPMA scientific advisory group for early September to further discuss the issue, and
Working with the Association of State Pest Control Regulatory Officials to provide EPA employees with an educational workshop about PMP uses and pollinator health in October.

Many of the products that are applied by professional applicators have the potential to be toxic to bees when exposed to direct treatment or residues on plants in bloom, including crops, ornamental plants or weeds. Such products should not be applied when bees are visiting or expected to visit the treatment area, or if the applied product may drift outside the treatment area. By limiting the direct and potential exposure of pollinators to pesticides, pest management professionals can reduce the likelihood of similar events in the future and beneficial organisms like bees can be protected. It is very important that the applicator know the potential toxicity to bees for the products they are planning to apply. Also, the applicator should always read, understand and follow labels in their entirety, including the environmental hazard and precautionary statements, prior to product application. This information should be reinforced immediately to all service technicians.

In 2012, the U.S. Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) was revised to align with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). Specific changes to the HCS to align U.S. chemical hazard communication with the world standards include:

OSHA has set a training deadline for being familiar with these new components by December 1, 2013. To ensure completing this requirement is easy for you and your staff, log-on to the NPMA Online Learning Center and take the HCS Training Course. This interactive module will provide learners with the updated information about Revised Hazard Communication Standard training required by OSHA to be completed by the December deadline. The course will take approximately 30 minutes to complete, plus additional time to finish the quiz. In the course you will learn about:

Before you know it, June will arrive, and licensees will be scrambling to get the rest of their continuing education hours. Frantic technicians will bombard their employers about getting hours to renew their licenses. Why wait until June?

PCOC's annual Pest Ed is Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014 in Montebello for Southern California and Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014 in Sacramento for Northern California. We have also moved the Sacramento event to a new and better location. There will be one morning session and three afternoon breakout sessions covering rules and regulations, Branch 2, and Branch 1&3. We have also applied for DPR hours.

We will have exciting talks about the current plight of bees, stored food pests, burrowing rodents, respirator programs, preparing new hires and more. Don't miss this great opportunity. We will soon be posting on our website, under Upcoming Events, a link to the brochure. We also plan to mail out copies.

Click here for the registration form.