Petition against allowing Neonics in the Spring in Britain

[Beegarden]

I had heard recently that France has recently rescinded the ban on Neonics. Unless anyone has any contrary reports on their effect on insects/bees, please sign the following petition:

Don’t make any exceptions - keep the ban on bee-killing pesticides in place across the UK.

I've signed the petition calling on the government to keep the ban on bee-killing pesticides in place - with no exceptions. Will you add your name?

speakout.38degrees.org.uk

 

[Murox]

"France has already lifted the ban" - why ? when ? under what circumstances ? its the first I've heard of it

 

[Beegarden]

It's in the infamous BBKA News - ''The National Union of French Beekeeping has reacted angrily to the decision by the French National Assembly and the Senate to authorise emergency use of neonics on sugar beet until mid 2023............ ' It may only be sugar beet at the moment but is this the tip of the iceberg?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

is this the tip of the iceberg?

Why would you want to put neonics on lettuce?

 

[Apple]

BUT Shirley bumbling Boris has said get BREXIT done... so we do not have to put up with the Frogs silly rules anymore?

Sign the petition anyway!

Nadelik Lowen

 

[Amari]

Plea for emergency seed treatment to save sugar beet - Farmers Weekly

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Plea for emergency seed treatment to save sugar beet - Farmers Weekly

I've never observed honeybees foraging on sugar beet. OSR is a different matter entirely!

 

[Nige.Coll]

Neonics probably does have it's place in the IPM that farmers need to use.
My bees were always exposed to neonics when it was used on OSR, apart from higher varroa loads I saw no significant effect on the colonies.
Since the ban I have seen an increase in wild pollinators in the areas of my apiaries. A downside of this is the wasps have become far more common and persistent problem.

 

[Karol]

Neonics persist in the soil, are extremely potent and migrate not only through the soil but along water courses as well. Their use on sugar beet would not be confined to the beet.

Honeybees are the least affected by neonics because bee husbandry and bee social structures mitigate the effects of neonics. Other polinators including wasps are more susceptible to neonics and whilst wasps may be regarded by some as a nuisance, IMHO they provide a critical function in honeybee fitness (on a population scale) by weeding out diseased hives. When wasps strip out a diseased hive they reduce the risk of contagion that would otherwise be vectored through robbing by healthy bees.

I suspect that if an analysis were conducted on the incidence of diseased hives as a proportion of living hives that there's been an improvement not just because of the decline in use of neonics but also because of the sanitizing contribution made by recovering wasp populations.

 

[Brian Bush]

Banning Neonics on Sugar Beet and other non-flowering crops was a silly decision. Bees don't forage on Sugar Beet and if you were growing it for seed then you would not wish to treat it anyway.
Banning its use on OSR also led to the use of Pyrethrum based insecticides that are probably worse for the bee population as well.
Banning Noenics around my village led to local farmers being unable to grow the crop due to 'flea beetle' infestation.
5 Miles away on different soils the fields around my apiaries have OSR and it is treated with 'other'!!! insecticides. What a 'buggers muddle' we have created?????

 

[happyculteur]

Banning its use on OSR also led to the use of Pyrethrum based insecticides that are probably worse for the bee population as well.

This has been typical after neonicotinoide banning. Banning is necessary for other reasons than bees. But bees have become cuddlier than dolphins so the right actions are often pushed for unsustainable reasons.

What a 'buggers muddle' we have created?????

Oh yes!!!!!! This is Europe at its worse. An overall policy with so many exonerations for different countries that the only sense made is economic.And short term at that.

 

[Brian Bush]

This has been typical after neonicotinoide banning. Banning is necessary for other reasons than bees. But bees have become cuddlier than dolphins so the right actions are often pushed for unsustainable reasons.


Oh yes!!!!!! This is Europe at its worse. An overall policy with so many exonerations for different countries that the only sense made is economic.And short term at that.

You are so cynical!!!!

 

[happyculteur]

"France has already lifted the ban" - why ? when ? under what circumstances ? its the first I've heard of it

In the night 5/6 october. In fact the law banning neonicotinoides was voted (Macron looking for ecologist voters for the 1922 presidentials after the high scores of the greens in recent elections) but to satisfy the maximum by doing the minimum there was the "beetroot derogation".
In France the beetroot industry consists of 21 sugar factories, 46000 jobs, 440 000 hectares of agricultural land, a billion euros in exports. Most of this is in northern France, and the ban meant the production switching to Belgium.
Of course, in the name of equality before the law, perhaps the cereal growers may have a case ............................

 

[happyculteur]

You are so cynical!!!!

Sad rather than cynical.

 

[ChrisS]

Banning Neonics on Sugar Beet and other non-flowering crops was a silly decision. Bees don't forage on Sugar Beet and if you were growing it for seed then you would not wish to treat it anyway.
Banning its use on OSR also led to the use of Pyrethrum based insecticides that are probably worse for the bee population as well.
Banning Noenics around my village led to local farmers being unable to grow the crop due to 'flea beetle' infestation.
5 Miles away on different soils the fields around my apiaries have OSR and it is treated with 'other'!!! insecticides. What a 'buggers muddle' we have created?????

Before neonics were banned on sugar beet, the river Waveney (on the Norfolk/Suffolk boundary) was shown to have the highest level of neonic pollution in the country. Why? Run-off from the extensive sugar beet fields in this part of the world. The result was chronic poisoning of the aquatic invertebrates which are the base of a river's food chain.

So not a silly decision at all - we need fish and other life in our rivers!

 

[The Poot]

Before neonics were banned on sugar beet, the river Waveney (on the Norfolk/Suffolk boundary) was shown to have the highest level of neonic pollution in the country. Why? Run-off from the extensive sugar beet fields in this part of the world. The result was chronic poisoning of the aquatic invertebrates which are the base of a river's food chain.

So not a silly decision at all - we need fish and other life in our rivers!

Ah that’s the answer for Brexit. The Waveney runs into the North Sea. Kill the fish so the frogs can’t get them.

 

[The Poot]

PS In this instance should frogs have a capital F?

 

[Swn58]

Banning Noenics around my village led to local farmers being unable to grow the crop due to 'flea beetle' infestation.

Yes....the farm where I have an apiary were devastated by flea-beetles last year, after being flooded earlier. They lost all their OSR. The jury is still out as to whether neonics have the effect on pollinators that was first thought. I must say that I am more on the side of complimentary planting, to prevent pests devastating crops, than lacing them with chemicals though.

 

[Karol]

<snip> The jury is still out as to whether neonics have the effect on pollinators that was first thought. <snip>

Not sure that's the case:

https://tinyurl.com/y6d4bvrs

 

[Amari]

Yes....the farm where I have an apiary were devastated by flea-beetles last year, after being flooded earlier. They lost all their OSR. The jury is still out as to whether neonics have the effect on pollinators that was first thought. I must say that I am more on the side of complimentary planting, to prevent pests devastating crops, than lacing them with chemicals though.

Farming Today (Radio 4 0545-0600) theme this week is Brassicas. This morning OSR. Fascinating discussion of complimentary planting eg. Buckwheat deters flea beetle, mustard attracts them = decoy crop.