There are myriad factors contributing to bee decline (other major causes including habitat loss, invasive species, disease, climate change and pollution) and we are fast approaching a point of no return. Ecosystems are extremely complex and fragile. If the insects & other pollinators who underpin them are no longer there, ecosystems will collapse and this will have a knock on effect like a pack of cards. If we don't treat this situation with the urgency it demands, there could soon be insufficient pollinators left to pollinate the planet's food crops…. never mind the 80% of Planet Earth's flowering pants that bees alone are responsible for pollinating. What is 'here' this year, might very well be 'gone' next year.
Do you eat apples? Tomatoes? Strawberries? Squashes? Meat? Would you be prepared to travel to where these crops (or the crops that are grown to feed them) are grown - and spend hours and hours hand pollinating them yourselves in order to have them produce their fruits for you to eat? If not, you really should make it your business to find out more about what's going on and do something about it, because once our pollinators have gone, they're gone. Extinction is forever….and forever is a very long time.
It is time now to wake up and take responsibility for what is happening in the world around us. Write letters to your MPs & MEPs asking them what they are doing about the situation…. boycott the companies that produce these pesticides and lobby the shops that sell them…. choose food that is grown without them… but above all, make it your business to become more informed! One of the main reasons these multinationals get away with controlling the food chain is because not enough people give a stuff. Knowledge is power; without it we are no more in control of our lives than a herd of sheep.
If you are reading this post, then you have access to a computer. If you are not already on top of the neonicotinoid issue, perhaps you could use your computer to google 'neonicotinoids and bee decline'. Or look up the scientific data that shows a single kernel of corn coated with a neonicotinoid can kill a song bird outright.
Then decide what you are able to do to help our beleaguered pollinators….whether it be planting the right flowers, creating more suitable habitat, or reducing the use of hidden pesticides in your food shopping. Whatever you do, no mater how small, you might just help tip the balance in favour of bees and other pollinators not becoming extinct!
Scientific and anecdotal evidence that neonicotinoids pesticides are killing bees - as well as other pollinators and wildlife - is now overwhelming. Yet I read today that the NFU are calling for the restrictions to be lifted so farmers can use these banned toxins on their oilseed rape crops. These crops do not even NEED to be treated with neonics.
As far as I can see, this has go nothing to do with feeding the world. It appears to be about £££££'s and $$$$$'s… greed… control… fear… and the hold the agrochemical multinationals have upon the world's food chain.
Ironically and alarmingly, whilst many counties are calling for more restrictions on the use of these highly toxic pesticides, the UK government actually opposed the current temporary EU ban….. and the National Farmers Union (NFU), who you'd have thought would care a great deal about the health of pollinating insects, have just submitted a request to the Government for a derogation that would allow farmers to use banned neonicotinoid treated seeds this Autumn. Yet these crops do not even NEED to be treated with neonics. See link below…..
NFU wants farmers to be able to use the banned seed treatments in oilseed rape crops sown this autumn
A few more important articles to save you having to trawl the internet….
Nearly one in 10 of Europe's wild bee species far extinction
Has Farming Lost Its Way?
The Drugs (Neonicotinoids) Don't Work
Bee die-offs are worst where pesticides use is heaviest
Most definitely a cause for concern Bridget, but I fear that whilst the majority of the public feel unaffected then they fail to take action or even bother to try and understand the delicacy of the worlds eco system.
ReplyDeleteOn the bright there are people like you who inspire others to open their eyes and wake up to the world and how our own greed is destroying the very thing that sustains us. If we all began by taking the small steps you mentioned perhaps we can begin to be ward's of this beautiful planet instead of the parasite that kills it.
Most definitely a cause for concern Bridget, but I fear that whilst the majority of the public feel unaffected then they fail to take action or even bother to try and understand the delicacy of the worlds eco system.
ReplyDeleteOn the bright there are people like you who inspire others to open their eyes and wake up to the world and how our own greed is destroying the very thing that sustains us. If we all began by taking the small steps you mentioned perhaps we can begin to be ward's of this beautiful planet instead of the parasite that kills it.
Ireland has 97 native bee species
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the honeybee, Ireland has 20 bumblebee species and 76 solitary bee species.
The Irish fauna
• Ireland’s bee fauna is less than half the size of that in Britain, which has about 260 species, and is very depauperate is comparison to central Europe. This is due to Ireland’s oceanic climate, small surface area and isolated location at the western periphery of Europe.
• Within Ireland, there are clear regional differences in the native fauna, which are assumed to reflect climactic variation with the country. The south east of Ireland, in particular, is richer in species number for solitary bees. This is not the case for bumblebees, which are less influenced by small differences in climate.
• The west of Ireland (particularly areas around the Burren, the Aran Islands and the Mullet peninsula) has a high diversity of bumblebees and is key for many of the threatened species. Many species have been lost from the east of the country due to extensive agricultural intensification and urbanization.
The Mountain Bumblebee was first recorded in Ireland in the 1970’s from the Dublin/Wicklow Mountains, and then from Northern Ireland in the 1980’s (Co. Tyrone and from a range of locations on the Antrim Coast). It is assumed it arrived into Wicklow/Dublin from populations in Wales, and into the North from populations in Scotland. The Mountain bumblebee is a habitat specialist, generally being associated with bogs/heaths at higher altitudes where it likes to feed on Blaeberry/Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus). See the distribution map.
Based on recorded sightings, it hasn’t fared so well in the North. In contrast, the southern populations are very healthy and have been expanding southwards. It reached the Blackstairs Mountains in Wexford/Carlow in 2004 and was recorded from the area around Brandon Hill in Co. Kilkenny in 2012.
In April 2015, we had our first Co. Waterford record. A queen was found by Oisin Duffy and Mairead Crawford close to the Waterford coast (Woodstown). The habitat isn’t very suitable so it was probably blown in from a healthy population nearby. It’s be great to hear if it’s in any areas with Bilberry in south Kilkenny or east Waterford. If it reaches the Comeraghs there should be plenty of good habitat and it might eventually make its way down to the south west!
Interesting blog post, but I myself am dubious about the effectiveness of the ban. The removal the neonics used for OSR have meant a return to a more traditional spray regime, which has to be applied when the plants are flowering, which means more bees will die than if seed treatments had been used. Having done the research, I can't find any real hard evidence the neonics are a major cause for bee death, compared to other things like the varroa mite. My personal experience with neonics on our cider farm is that they have no noticeable effect on the bees, in fact the bees only started dying when we stopped spraying them! I am aware that is only anecdotal experience from one farm. I think the ban was a very short sighted reaction to public pressure, and may well do more damage than good, but only time will tell.
ReplyDeleteWhy does a farmer spray ANYTHING on a cider farm? If you'll be crushing all of the fruit how can it possibly matter how they look? Pollinators increase yields. Fungicides inhibit/harm pollinators.
DeleteThank you for the feedback. Such a complex issue
ReplyDeleteHi Brigit, I used to be a beekeeper, but I never felt comfortable with it. All the manipulation and then the theft of their food that they worked so hard to produce, one teaspoon of honey for each bee. After a misdiagnosis of the loss of a hive, I decided enough was enough. I had two hives and allowed them to become wild bees. I removed the horrible queen excluders, allowing the queen to go where she likes, and that makes the workers happy too. It also stopped the workers from damaging their wings as they have to force their way through. The hives have open mesh floors, allowing ventilation, it is damp that kills bees, not cold. Four years on and I am so pleased they remain large healthy colonies. I thought they may swarm out, but they didn't. I do have to wrap something round the hives in the depth of winter, as the woodpeckers will peck at the hive. I guess they can smell the honey.
ReplyDelete