As one Defra agency appears to be finally learning the painful lessons of IT rollouts gone wrong, another seems to have walked into the same trap. Pesticides not a serious threat to bees - Defra
DEFRA has angered anti-pesticide campaigners after it claimed chemical sprays were not to blame for the sharp decline in British bee numbers.
During parliamentary questions last week, the Department also defended the use of public money to investigate the health of bees in a jointly funded research project with the pesticide manufacturers Syngenta.
Bees contribute up to £200 million to the agricultural economy every year, mainly through crop pollination and honey production, but a combination of disease, a changing climate and poor bee husbandry has led to a 15 per cent decline in their numbers in just two years.
This has lead to a flurry of research projects from Defra, worth over £4 million, to arrest the decline but critics argue the threat of pesticides is being ignored.
Dan Norris, Defra minister, told MPs in the House of Commons that the Government took the drop in bee numbers ‘very seriously’ but said adequate measures were already in place to protect bees against harmful sprays.
“There is no evidence that authorised pesticides pose an unacceptable risk,” he said.
But a documentary released in UK cinemas last month claims otherwise.
Vanishing of the Bees blames the spread of neonicotinoid pesticides for the decline in bee colonies.
Further, Syngenta’s neonicotinoid pesticide, thiamexotham, was recently described as ‘deadly to honey bees’ by an American study.
The Government’s decision to commit public money to a £1 million joint research venture with Syngenta has therefore been met with some scepticism.
David Taylor, MP for North West Leicestershire, questioned whether a project, part funded by a pesticide manufacturer, would ‘fully investigate the links between neonicotinoids and the collapse in bee numbers’.
However, Defra reassured Mr Taylor that no stone would go unturned in its investigations.
“We will, of course, consider all the research, including that commissioned by pesticide companies, into this important issue, but we will also ensure that the highest possible standards are maintained,” said Defra’s Mr Norris.
Readers' comments (8)
peter | 5 November 2009 8:22 pm
bees
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Susie Hewson | 6 November 2009 3:14 pm
Is the Government hand in glove with the chemical industries, afraid of the big rough hands of the NFU, or just plain dumb?
Again the UK stands out as “numpties” against all the evidence presented in Europe and the USA on the case for the effect of pesticides on Bee populations. Surely the safest thing to do would be to suspend use of these pesticides until a truly Independent review of the research can be assessed across Europe. But the smell of influence, typical of the chemical industry, permeates the government and clouds its thinking. Joint funding with a company that has a vested interest in NOT delivering an Independent review!! How can a pesticide producer ever carry out independent research on the effect of pesticides on not just bees, but all life. Hello Tobacco Council, seems we are at the same door once again. How can adequate measures be in place (sic Dan Norris) when Europe has already suspended the use of these chemicals and Britain has not? He is giving the benefit of the doubt to the chemical industry that produces it. Hello, am I missing the point here, but does this seem like protectionism. Is it not obvious that Syngenta is wearing Defra’s gloves, hand in hand in the intent of cooking up a side story to deflect what European scientists and governments, bee keepers and environmentalists already know to be the case? Democracy, what democracy? We have all seen the stones that have not been turned over Mr Taylor.
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David Thomson | 6 November 2009 8:51 pm
Sounds like like another GM cropping type of enquirey with Companies with a vested interest being involved. Such surveys must always be carried out by an independent body. We all remember the non-harmfull smoking surveys.
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Anonymous | 9 November 2009 11:11 am
Norris's statement:
"“There is no evidence that authorised pesticides pose an unacceptable risk,”
. . is simply lies and spin. The French commissioned independent studies by Dr Bonmatin at the University of Montpelier back in 1999 - after they lost 500,000 hives after the introduction of Gaucho (Imidacloprid). Bonmatin's work showed that honeybees were killed outright by Imidacloprid in the pollen and nectar of oilseed rape at just 3-5 ppm - and they were incapacitated and disoriented at levels of just 0.1ppm. The National Scioentific and Technical Committee of France then banned Imidacloprid and brands like Gaucho in 2000. The ban has not been rescinded. In 2008 there was a disaster in the Rhineland when again - thousands of colonies were killed by Bayer pesticide seed treatments on maize and this was researched by the Julius Kuhn Institute in Berlin. Their studies confirmed the French research and all neo-nicotinoids were banned in Germany - Bayer's home territory. Further independent research in Italy, Switzerland and Slovenia led to the neo-nicotinoids being banned in those countries.
The UK and America have chosen to completely ignore all that research - and there is NO independent research in this country. The programme announced by DEFRA is funded by Syngenta and the agenda has been set by Syngenta. The researchers at Rothamstead, Rowatt and other Institutes get shed loads of cash for all their pet projects as long as they stay away from ANY serious research into neo-nicotinoids. They have sold their scientific integrity for a mess of pottage.
We are witnessing a mass-extinction of insects of ALL kinds in the UK. Virtually ALL arable crops: OSR, maize, wheat, barley, potatoes, glasshouse crops - ALL are drenched with Imidaclopid and the entire landscape is now toxic to all forms of life - other than arable crops.
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Bil Harley | 9 November 2009 11:47 am
I have just read that Clothianidin has also been banned in France (28/10/2009). http://e-phy.agriculture.gouv.fr/mata/9978.htm
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Bil Harley | 9 November 2009 11:59 am
Here is the abstract of an Italian study which was published in the USA.
Journal of Economic Entomology
Published by: Entomological Society of America
Journal of Economic Entomology 102(5):1808-1815. 2009
doi: 10.1603/029.102.0511
Translocation of Neonicotinoid Insecticides from Coated Seeds to Seedling Guttation Drops: A Novel Way of Intoxication for Bees
V. Girolami,1,2 L. Mazzon,1 A. Squartini,3 N. Mori,1 M. Marzaro,1 A. Di Bernardo,1 M. Greatti,4 C. Giorio,5 and A. Tapparo5
1 Dipartimento di Agronomia Ambientale e Produzioni Vegetali, Entomologia, Università di Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (Padova) Italy.
3 Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Agrarie, Università di Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro (Padova) Italy.
4 Dipartimento di Biologia e Protezione delle Piante, Entomologia, Università di Udine, Via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy.
5 Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Padova, Via Marzolo 1, 35131 Padova, Italy.
2 Corresponding author, e-mail: vincenzo.girolami@unipd.it.
ABSTRACT
The death of honey bees, Apis mellifera L., and the consequent colony collapse disorder causes major losses in agriculture and plant pollination worldwide. The phenomenon showed increasing rates in the past years, although its causes are still awaiting a clear answer. Although neonicotinoid systemic insecticides used for seed coating of agricultural crops were suspected as possible reason, studies so far have not shown the existence of unquestionable sources capable of delivering directly intoxicating doses in the fields. Guttation is a natural plant phenomenon causing the excretion of xylem fluid at leaf margins. Here, we show that leaf guttation drops of all the corn plants germinated from neonicotinoid-coated seeds contained amounts of insecticide constantly higher than 10 mg/1, with maxima up to 100 mg/1 for thiamethoxam and clothianidin, and up to 200 mg/1 for imidacloprid. The concentration of neonicotinoids in guttation drops can be near those of active ingredients commonly applied in field sprays for pest control, or even higher. When bees consume guttation drops, collected from plants grown from neonicotinoid-coated seeds, they encounter death within few minutes.
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Dr John Stevenson | 11 November 2009 3:45 pm
Bee decline is a very serious problem, but there is now ample SCIENTIFIC evidence that pesticides are not responsible. The sooner the hysterical attacks on pesticides cease, the sooner objective research is likely to identify the real cause{s) of this very worying problem.
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Allison Day Bees Action Network | 17 February 2010 11:03 am
In the face of mounting evidence both here and abroad, in the light of various countries banning neonicotinoids: our Government shows its venality and lack of intelligence and sides with vested interests.
God help the bees.
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