To protect bees and other pollinators, the U.S. EPA developed new pesticide labels that prohibit use of some neonicotinoid pesticide products.

The new labels will have a bee-advisory box and icon with information on routes of exposure, as well as cautions about spray drift. The agency says it will work with pesticide manufacturers to change labels so they meet the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) safety standard.

The new labels will affect products containing imidacloprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin and thiamethoxam.

The EPA also released new enforcement guidance to federal, state and tribal officials to enhance investigations of bee-kill incidents. And the agency says it will continue to work with beekeepers, growers, pesticide applicators, pesticide and seed companies, and federal and state agencies to reduce pesticide drift dust and advance best-management practices.

This past May, the USDA and EPA released a comprehensive scientific report on honeybee health that showed consensus that there’s a complex set of stressors associated with honeybee declines.

“Multiple factors play a role in bee colony declines, including pesticides,” said Jim Jones, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

IN OTHER NO-TILL NEWS…

Syngenta received federal registration for Vibrance seed-treatment fungicides for more than 30 additional crops. In field corn, it will be sold in combination with Maxim Quattro seed-treatment fungicide.

Arclin will be the U.S. exclusive seller of NitroGain UI, a nitrogen urease inhibitor from Eco Agro Resources. NitroGain UI reduces nitrogen loss by hindering the conversion of nitrogen to ammonia…