BT Corn pollen and syrup

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

Has anyone heard or know any more information about BT Corn. There was some information out that said the pollen is killing bee's and butterflies. I am wondering if the corn syrup that is being feed to them to help them in the winter and early spring could be some of the cause. Thanks

-- phillip (raines@rainesridgefarm.com), November 24, 2001

Answers

though I heard of it killing butterflys and other catippilars,,never heard of it killing honey bees. The BT COrn, effects the pests like corn borers, and such,which are catipillars, thus it effecets the non pest catiplillars also. The 3 commercial bee keepers I talk with, and buy corn cyrup from to feed my bees,, havnt had any problmes related to it.

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), November 25, 2001.

Bt corn has a gene from a baterium spliced into it which makes its pollen toxic to lepidopteran insects such as corn borers and monarch butterflies. It has no effect on bees.

Monarch butterflies were put into a cage with no food other than vegetation dusted with corn pollen, and they grew slowly and had high rates or mortality. It's noteworthy, however, that monarchs don't like corn plants or corn pollen, and the expected (but not proven) problem could be those fields of milkweeds, their preferred food, growing next to Bt cornfields. On an anecdotal note, I've seen more monarch butterflies here in west central Ohio since Bt hit the market. This link provides more information: Engineered Corn Can Kill Monarch Butterflies

I don't know if the endotoxin is present in corn syrup, but it should not affect bees even if present.

-- Mark Sykes (mark@marksykes.net), November 25, 2001.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ