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Have you guys not banned Neonicotinoides yet ? Since the UK ban my anecdotal evidence is loads more types of bumble bees in my garden. And I have not seen any
by deepnet 11y ago
Have you guys not banned Neonicotinoides yet ?
Since the UK ban my anecdotal evidence is loads more types of bumble bees in my garden.
And I have not seen any 'confused' dying bees at all which was a regular sight before the ban.
I would have thought the publication of the Nature paper that Bees seek out fresh Neonicotinoid sprayings to get the maximum dose as they are totally hooked on nicotine and so getting way above the dose the previous models suggested would have sealed their fate in the US - but I guess not.
Are there any surveys which suggest numbers of bees and wild bees have improved in Europe since the ban ?
Interesting that the scientific concern over Neonicotinoides is given considerably less space than the industry 'facts'.
As there was a industry spokesperson AMAing on reddit about how pesticides were not so bad for bees and this making the frontpage on HN - I expect some well funded publicity machine is getting oiled up.
Is there some critical vote coming up or something ?
- im3w1l 11y agoJust thinking aloud here, but if bees get addicted to the pesticide, maybe we could mix something into it that Bee's don't like, to cancel it out.
- cjensen 11y agoYou came close to the truth when you said "Are there any surveys which suggest numbers of bees and wild bees have improved in Europe since the ban?" The European Ban is a gigantic experiment. Either it will clearly demonstrate that Neonicotinoides are a problem, or that they are a scapegoat. The Europeans have a history of banning things without scientific evidence like BGH and GMO. In this case it's a useful trait since their ban will provide definitive answers.
- jcbrand 11y agoLack of evidence is not evidence of lack. With something like GMO, it might take decades for the harmful effects to become clear. Just like it took decades before people became aware of the carcinogenic effect of cigarette smoking.