Good news for the honey bee

[Hunter John]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...ticle25634384/

[werner.reiche]

"In Europe, the consequences of the ban, which is up for review this year, have not been good. Canola crops in Britain and Germany – which were especially dependent on neonics – have been devastated by flea beetles. Farmers are moving away from canola, which is an important food source for bees."

[DaleK]

The European ban is now cancelled in the UK because it was doing more harm than good and the science doesn't support it.

[Fishy Wishy]

And if it's what the UK is doing it must be right...just ask Justin Beib...I mean Trudeau

[Oddmott]

The European ban is now cancelled in the UK because it was doing more harm than good and the science doesn't support it.

No it hasn't. For 120 days, a few farmers are allowed to use just 2 of the banned neonics to spray less than 5% of the total English oil seed rape crop.

The ban/restrictions are still pretty much in place.

[DaleK]

The ban is effectively lifted for 2015 crops. 95% of the crop is already planted, so it obviously can't be used on that part of the crop. It can be used on everything planted from here out in 2015, then they'll decide what to do next year.

[JBen]

Regardless, I would think the take away from this is that.

Kneejerk reactions are rarely good and that we should know by now, people or groups with agenda's can't always be taken as gospel. Most if not all of these bullits were the reasons and causes for concern mentioned and discussed just last month.

~Environmental lobby groups, for example, depend for their survival on tales of epic disaster.
sound familiar?. Global warming?

~This year the environmental lobby scored a major coup by persuading the Ontario government to sharply restrict the use of a class of insecticide known as neonicotinoids (neon's).
sound familiar? GEA?

~Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals, who have a long record of misguided green initiatives.
sound familiar? Where do I start/stop?

~Canola crops in Britain and Germany – which were especially dependent on neonics – have been devastated by flea beetles.

~Farmers are moving away from canola, which is an important food source for bees.
Unintended consequences

~Mr. Denys thinks part of the problem is that city dwellers, the kind of folks who eat organic foods and support the Sierra Club, have no idea how……………..
sound familiar? Bears, Wind, Gas plants….oh so much…..but damn they do make a wanna be king or queen salivate when it comes to elections and making them happy.

fool me once…
fool me twice…
fool me how many times….

the number of honeybee colonies is at a record high. Last year, according to Statistics Canada.

Why the rush Ms Wynne? Haven't you learned?

[northernontario]

I'd just like to point out that "...canola, which is an important food source for bees...." is not an important food source for bees. In mass quantities, it's a great honey producer for beekeepers, but it's actually a pain in the for bees. It granulates in the comb, which means more energy required to reliquify prior to consumption for a hive. Commercial beekeepers like it because it generates good honey flows. If farmers switch to another crop the beekeepers are just going to move their hives to find a better source of nectar... and there's a ton of wild forage out there for bees if you put them in the right spots.

This is about a lot more than just honey bees. They are effectively a managed livestock, and if something was killing off your cattle in pasture you'd be pretty concerned about it. What's causing a deeper concern here is the potential loss of "unmanaged" wild insects. The bees and bugs and birds and amphibians that nobody bothers to count and keep statistics on. The flora in the soil, of which we only have the most basic understanding.

On a tangent to the Neonic discussion... Roundup (glyphosate) is used just as much... and it's long term effects and buildup in the soil and ecosystem are showing up as well. The method of action for the herbicide has been found the affect the flora in the soil, effectively killing the soil on which it's sprayed. That same flora exists in our gut; and we don't even understand the connection that gut flora has to the rest of our body. Most people don't even understand the thousands of acres of crown land where glyphosate is sprayed to control regrowth to ensure fast buildup of softwood forests... forestry companies harvest softwood, then spray to ensure the hardwood that starts to regrow is suppressed because "we took softwood, we need to replace with softwood". Millions of litres of this stuff is dumped into the ecosystem every year in the same places we hunt and fish and play.... and the natural regrowth phases of the forest are disrupted for monetary reasons.

Poison is poison, regardless of what shade of lipstick you put on it. I try to limit my exposure to poison as much as possible.

[werner.reiche]

I'd just like to point out that "...canola, which is an important food source for bees...." is not an important food source for bees. In mass quantities, it's a great honey producer for beekeepers, but it's actually a pain in the for bees. It granulates in the comb, which means more energy required to reliquify prior to consumption for a hive. Commercial beekeepers like it because it generates good honey flows. If farmers switch to another crop the beekeepers are just going to move their hives to find a better source of nectar... and there's a ton of wild forage out there for bees if you put them in the right spots.

This is about a lot more than just honey bees. They are effectively a managed livestock, and if something was killing off your cattle in pasture you'd be pretty concerned about it. What's causing a deeper concern here is the potential loss of "unmanaged" wild insects. The bees and bugs and birds and amphibians that nobody bothers to count and keep statistics on. The flora in the soil, of which we only have the most basic understanding.

On a tangent to the Neonic discussion... Roundup (glyphosate) is used just as much... and it's long term effects and buildup in the soil and ecosystem are showing up as well. The method of action for the herbicide has been found the affect the flora in the soil, effectively killing the soil on which it's sprayed. That same flora exists in our gut; and we don't even understand the connection that gut flora has to the rest of our body. Most people don't even understand the thousands of acres of crown land where glyphosate is sprayed to control regrowth to ensure fast buildup of softwood forests... forestry companies harvest softwood, then spray to ensure the hardwood that starts to regrow is suppressed because "we took softwood, we need to replace with softwood". Millions of litres of this stuff is dumped into the ecosystem every year in the same places we hunt and fish and play.... and the natural regrowth phases of the forest are disrupted for monetary reasons.

Poison is poison, regardless of what shade of lipstick you put on it. I try to limit my exposure to poison as much as possible.

...This is about a lot more than just honey bees...

Actually, no, its not. The current pesticides were developed specifically to reduce harm to birds, reptiles, amphibians and small damage. Honey bees appear to be all and only what this is about.

[mooboy76]

I
On a tangent to the Neonic discussion... Roundup (glyphosate) is used just as much... and it's long term effects and buildup in the soil and ecosystem are showing up as well. The method of action for the herbicide has been found the affect the flora in the soil, effectively killing the soil on which it's sprayed.

A little off topic, but can you shed some light on this point?

Soil microbes typically break down and metabolize glyphosate rapidly, and it could possibley shift the dominant organisms, but since the application only occurs a few times a year, then it would be temporary. Unless you have really poor soil, the community structure is quite robust.