PESTICIDES DECLINE BEE POPULATIONby | 24-08-2015 02:29 |
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![]() ![]() Honey bees and other pollinators are declining at high rates round the world. Recent studies done by scientists link pesticides to decline of honey bees and pollinators. Bees are one of the hardest working creatures on the planet. Our lives – and the world as a whole – would be a much different place if bees didn?t exist. Bees are responsible for pollinating about one-sixth of the flowering plant species worldwide and approximately 400 different agricultural types of plant. Beekeepers have averaged sudden, unexplained losses of 25-30% of their hives and witnessed abnormal behaviour in worker bees, loss of queens and increased symptoms of ill health during the past years. Neonicotinoids—a potent class of pesticides used on many crops in the U.S.—have long been blamed for the widespread decline of pollinators. Now a major new study has found a correlation between the use of Neonicotinoids and honeybee colony losses across England and Wales. Did you know that -The amount of clothianidin on a single maize seed treated at the dose of 0.5mg per kernel contains enough active ingredient to kill over 80,000 honey bee Mass bee kills have occurred in several countries at maize sowing time, due to high concentrations of neonicotinoids Neonicotinoid toxins can persist in soil and water and can even be taken up by untreated crop plants and nearby flowering weeds for up to two years after the original application. To protect our bees and agriculture we need to shift from destructive industrial agriculture towards ecological farming. First and important steps are: 1. Ban all bee-harming pesticides 2. Adopt a bee-action plan 3. Promote ecological farming |