THUNDER BAY - A local bee producer is applauding the province for its proposal to reduce the use of a pesticide that's harmful to Ontario's agriculture.
The province wants to reduce the use of neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean crops by 2017, which would be the strongest legislation in North America.
"It's been deadly to honeybees and pollinators in general," Bears' Bees and Honey owner Barry Tabor said.
Tabor has been getting his bee colonies away from treated corn since 2006, when he lost several of them to pesticide poisoning. Air injected into the soil, dust from the treated seeds clings to traveling bees, which bring the particles back to a hive.
"It's not just the initial loss of the bees, it's a couple of years that you're losing," Tabor said.
Last year ,Tabor's 70 colonies produced more than 4,000 pounds of honey, a phenomenal crop, Tabor said.
Anything that can be done to reduce the amount of province-wide bee deaths, which was estimated at 58 per cent last year and well below the accepted 15 per cent, is welcome news.
"It's a really good start," he said.
The regulation is in its draft stage. If approved, it would take effect in July.
