In July 2008, German authorities reported that more than 11,000 beehives were affected and millions of bees were killed in an agricultural chemical poisoning incident from late April to early May that year. Affected beekeepers reported that 50 to 100 percent of their hives had been lost after pneumatic equipment used to plant corn seed blew clouds of pesticide dust into the air, which was then pushed by the wind onto neighboring canola fields in which managed bees were performing pollinator services. Description Laboratory testing at the Julius Kühn Institute demonstrated that 99% of the bees sampled tested positive for high levels of the neonicotinoid pesticide clothianidin, which is highly toxic to honey bees on an acute contact basis (i.e. direct contact with too much of the chemical can quickly kill bees). In providing background on the incident, the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) noted that clothianidin had been authorized as a seed treatment on corn since 2004, and that “bee damage of this kind in conjunction with this product has not been observed in Germany” prior to the 2008 incident. Contributing Factors In addition to the pneumatic equipment and dry, windy conditions that created the pesticide dust cloud and drove it into the neighboring fields, the BVL also identified several other factors that contributed to the incident. Though the normal corn seed treatment formulation of clothianidin was authorized for use against fruit flies and wireworms at 25 grams of the chemical per 50,000 seeds, the seed batches associated with this incident received a special authorization at a much higher concentration, 62 grams per 50,000 seeds, to protect against an infestation of western corn rootworm. Furthermore, a glue-like polymer coating, known as "sticker", that is commonly used in the U.S. to ensure that seed treatment pesticides adhere to corn seeds was omitted in error by the seed treater that supplied the seed to German farmers. Weather conditions earlier in the year also contributed to the incident. While corn planting would normally not take place in the Baden-Württemberg region of Germany at the same time that canola is in bloom, unseasonably early and heavy rain pushed back the corn planting. Regulatory Authorities’ Reaction to the Incident France In Weakening, collapse and mortality of bee colonies. the French Food Safety Agency stated: the causes of these incidents have been clearly identified and can be avoided by measures