The Wizard of OZ

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Pesticides and bees

Monday, 24 January 2011

While ministers talk, bees are still dying

Your shocking revelations about the impact of neonicotinoids on pollinating insects ("Poisoned spring", 20 January) confirms the worst fears of scientists, conservationists and organic farmers.

There is a terrible sense of history repeating itself, as government scientists, politicians and chemical companies deny the impact of this new set of chemicals, just as they did with DDT in the 1960s. Back then it took the disappearance of many of our birds of prey before the problem was recognised. It looks as if the same is going to happen to bumblebees and honey bees.

Insect pollinators are of vital importance to organic farmers. The Soil Association and organic researchers in the USA have real concerns about all systemic pesticides, this new breed of chemical weapon, present in every part of a plant, throughout its growth. Systemic insecticides give repeated, often tiny doses of chemical to insects – and this repeated, long-term exposure is not adequately covered by pesticide safety testing.

Along with many other organisations, the Soil Association raised these concerns at a bee summit at 10 Downing Street, called by Sarah Brown when Gordon was Prime Minister. The last government refused to take precautionary action. Bees are still dying. If David Cameron wants to have "the greenest government ever" he needs to tell his agriculture ministers to act now. If many other European countries can do so, so can we.

Peter Melchett

Policy Director, The Soil Association, Bristol

French Scientists proved in 2000 that neonicotinoid pesticides were lethal to bees at infinitesimally small doses, and after the death of 500,000 hives, the French government imposed a ban. Three million more bee colonies died in America; and there have been thousands of unexplained losses in the UK. Nicotinoid bans were imposed by the governments of Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland, but not in the UK or America.

A recent study from Holland documented the steep decline of insectivorous birds – skylarks, house sparrows, starlings and partridges – because nicotinoids have wiped out the insects on which they feed.

Since 2000, when this pesticide crisis erupted, the British Beekeepers' Association has remained silent on the issue. It accepted almost £175,000, since 2001, from Bayer, Syngenta, BASF and Belchim, and endorsed their pyrethroid pesticides as "bee-friendly". The executive was recently forced to cancel these endorsements, but it proclaimed its policy "to seek future partnerships and commercial opportunities" with the "crop protection industry" – that is, pesticide manufacturers.

We call upon the BBKA to sever permanently all "partnerships and relationships" of any kind with the "crop protection industries". At a time when bees, butterflies and bumblebees are facing global extinction, there must be clear blue water between any bee or wildlife charity and the manufacturers of insecticides and GM crops.

We call upon the BBKA, bee-keepers and all who care for wildlife, to support MP Martin Caton's early day motion in Parliament, for the immediate suspension of all nicotinoid pesticides in the UK, until such time as truly independent studies prove them safe.

David Bellamy

Bill McAlister

Carol Klein, BBC Gardening Presenter

Dr Henk Tennekes, Carcinogen Toxicologist

Phil Chandler, Friends of the Bees

Graham White

Dr John Hambrey, Consultant Ecologist

Amanda Williams, Buzz about Bees

Kate Canning, Beekeeper

Eric McArthur

John Salt, Beekeeper, Coldstream, Scottish Borders

Your article "Poisoned spring" (20 January) risks misleading your readers about the real risk of neonicotinoid pesticides to bees.

The finding of the US report is not unexpected – that if a bee is given a dose of insecticide and an infection it will become weaker as a result. But that's very different from suggesting that colonies of British bees are under threat of being wiped out.

The UK has a robust system for assessing risks from pesticides, and all the evidence shows neonicotinoids – which are key to crop production – do not pose an unacceptable risk to bees if used correctly. We have rigorous controls on how they can be applied to prevent the incorrect use that may harm bees.

Among the major killers of honey bees in the UK are pests and diseases. The Government's 10-year plan, supported by funding to help beekeepers, is addressing these issues. Government regulators and scientists scrutinise developments in this area and they will not hesitate to act if any new evidence shows controls need changing.

Mike Brown
Head of the National Bee Unit
Food and Environment Research Agency, York

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-pesticides-and-bees-2192387.html