More environmental organisations have joined with Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust - to request that Environmental Minister Hilary Benn suspend outdoor use of neonicotinoid pesticides in the UK due to their potentially harmful effects on bees.
 (c) Anita Martinz.jpg) |
| Honey bee (Apis melifera) © Anita Martinz |
The ongoing disappearance of wild bees and Honey bees is disastrous, eroding pollination services worth £12.4 Billion in the EU and risking increased crop failures, but the causes of these declines have not been fully explained. Habitat loss has been a big factor, and pesticides, disease and starvation are on the suspect list, but recent work has indicated that Colony Collapse Disorder in Honey bees may be caused by an interaction between pathogens and stress factors.
Neonicotinoid pesticides are at the centre of the debate on bee decline, a comparatively new group of synthetic chemicals related to nicotine that are highly toxic to insects. They are used as a coating for agricultural seeds. The chemicals spread throughout the plant and into the nectar and pollen that bees then eat.
A comprehensive report by Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust - reveals that the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid damages the health and life cycle of bees. While this is unlikely to explain Colony Collapse Disorder in the honey bee, it could be a key contributory factor and may well be part of the cause for widespread declines in wild bee populations. Scientific evidence presented in the new report shows that bees eating nectar and pollen contaminated with imidacloprid (the commonest neonicotinoid) then forage less and produce fewer offspring. The report also exposes that the current process for approving crop pesticides is inadequate for assessing risks to bees and other wildlife. Originally supported by the Soil Association, Pesticides Action Network and Bumblebee Conservation Trust, now Plantlife, the Grassland Trust and the Edinburgh Entomological Club have also signed on to the report and its request for neonicitinoids to be suspected from outdoor use. For more information please click here
The Film - Vanishing of the Bees
Vanishing of the Bees is a documentary that explores the mysterious collapse of the bee populations across the planet and investigates the reasons behind it. The film also looks at our reliance on bees as the cornerstone of modern agriculture, and celebrates the ancient relationship between humans and bees.
The screening of the Vanishing of the Bees will be at 8:30pm on Tuesday 13th October at City Screen, and will be followed by a Question and Answer session with representatives from Buglife, who will also be giving out information on how you can help bees in your own back garden.
“Other countries have already introduced bans to prevent neonicotinoids from harming bees; it is now the UK government’s turn to take action on this issue,” said Matt Shardlow CEO of Buglife.
