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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/05/banned-pesticide-kills-bees-neonicotinoid-insecticide
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| Why is a banned pesticide that harms bees actually being used more? Why is a banned pesticide that harms bees actually being used more? | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Halfway through a video of a speech by the biologist Professor Dave Goulson there is an abrupt loss of sound. Goulson, who has devoted his working life to highlighting the catastrophic decline of bees, is giving a talk to hundreds gathered at the National Honey Show in 2015. Strangely, his words are silenced for 20 seconds of the video uploaded by the show to YouTube, precisely when he discusses the impact on bees of the most widely used insecticides in the world – neonicotinoids. | Halfway through a video of a speech by the biologist Professor Dave Goulson there is an abrupt loss of sound. Goulson, who has devoted his working life to highlighting the catastrophic decline of bees, is giving a talk to hundreds gathered at the National Honey Show in 2015. Strangely, his words are silenced for 20 seconds of the video uploaded by the show to YouTube, precisely when he discusses the impact on bees of the most widely used insecticides in the world – neonicotinoids. |
| Goulson called it “sinister” last week when made aware of the silence, but now concludes it was probably an innocent error. Bob Maurer, chairman of the show, told me the event has never received any sponsorship from the big chemical companies that manufacture neonicotinoids. He believes an accidental “technical hitch” by the video producer was responsible. | Goulson called it “sinister” last week when made aware of the silence, but now concludes it was probably an innocent error. Bob Maurer, chairman of the show, told me the event has never received any sponsorship from the big chemical companies that manufacture neonicotinoids. He believes an accidental “technical hitch” by the video producer was responsible. |
| Concern over this coincidence can be dismissed as a conspiracy theory, but what cannot be dismissed is the solid scientific evidence that Goulson is helping to produce, showing how neonicotinoids harm bees and other insects. | Concern over this coincidence can be dismissed as a conspiracy theory, but what cannot be dismissed is the solid scientific evidence that Goulson is helping to produce, showing how neonicotinoids harm bees and other insects. |
| Scientists this year calculated that these insecticides caused a 10% reduction in the distribution of bee species that forage on oilseed rape. Another study found neonicotinoids cut live sperm in male honeybees by almost 40%. Two studies show a strong correlation between neonicotinoids and declining butterfly populations, while another showed the insecticide accumulating to dangerous levels in nearby wildflowers. | Scientists this year calculated that these insecticides caused a 10% reduction in the distribution of bee species that forage on oilseed rape. Another study found neonicotinoids cut live sperm in male honeybees by almost 40%. Two studies show a strong correlation between neonicotinoids and declining butterfly populations, while another showed the insecticide accumulating to dangerous levels in nearby wildflowers. |
| The European Union placed a moratorium on three types of neonicotinoids on flowering crops such as oilseed rape three years ago but these insecticides have not disappeared. | The European Union placed a moratorium on three types of neonicotinoids on flowering crops such as oilseed rape three years ago but these insecticides have not disappeared. |
| I’ve just about learned how to pronounce neonicotinoids, but what I didn’t realise until Goulson told me is that the insecticide’s use in British farming continues to rise. It is deployed on non-flowering crops such as wheat. We use them in horticulture and daub them on our pets: flea powders for cats and dogs contain imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid. Goulson says the “plausible deniability” he encounters from neonicotinoid makers is “rather similar to what the tobacco industry did for 50 years claiming that smoking didn’t cause any harm”. | I’ve just about learned how to pronounce neonicotinoids, but what I didn’t realise until Goulson told me is that the insecticide’s use in British farming continues to rise. It is deployed on non-flowering crops such as wheat. We use them in horticulture and daub them on our pets: flea powders for cats and dogs contain imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid. Goulson says the “plausible deniability” he encounters from neonicotinoid makers is “rather similar to what the tobacco industry did for 50 years claiming that smoking didn’t cause any harm”. |
| Next year an expert review will decide whether to tighten or slacken the EU’s moratorium. Eighteen conservation organisations are calling for a better ban. I’ll be listening to Dave Goulson. | Next year an expert review will decide whether to tighten or slacken the EU’s moratorium. Eighteen conservation organisations are calling for a better ban. I’ll be listening to Dave Goulson. |
| A hatching of hope | A hatching of hope |
| I was momentarily stumped when recently asked to write about 2016’s good animal news. In our tyrannical position as the world’s dominant animal, we are destroying our planet and its life forms. | I was momentarily stumped when recently asked to write about 2016’s good animal news. In our tyrannical position as the world’s dominant animal, we are destroying our planet and its life forms. |
| Look around a little and there are, of course, myriad small good deeds and changes for the better. In the past week alone, Athens, Madrid, Mexico City and Paris have pledged to go diesel-free by 2025; Tesco and Sainsbury’s agreed to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds to reduce British beach rubbish; and we learned that after failing for four years, the only pair of bearded vultures in Andorra successfully fledged a chick. Here’s to the hatching of more eggs of hope, as my hero Alan Partridge might quip. | Look around a little and there are, of course, myriad small good deeds and changes for the better. In the past week alone, Athens, Madrid, Mexico City and Paris have pledged to go diesel-free by 2025; Tesco and Sainsbury’s agreed to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds to reduce British beach rubbish; and we learned that after failing for four years, the only pair of bearded vultures in Andorra successfully fledged a chick. Here’s to the hatching of more eggs of hope, as my hero Alan Partridge might quip. |
| Wish and chips | Wish and chips |
| Beavers returning to the river Otter is another nugget of good news, and why shouldn’t Devon Wildlife Trust cash in? I’ve donated £75 for a chip of Devon beaver-chewed wood. Just don’t order it as a Christmas present: it could take five months to arrive “due to the finite and irregular supply”. | Beavers returning to the river Otter is another nugget of good news, and why shouldn’t Devon Wildlife Trust cash in? I’ve donated £75 for a chip of Devon beaver-chewed wood. Just don’t order it as a Christmas present: it could take five months to arrive “due to the finite and irregular supply”. |
| Devon’s chief beaver-chip finder must be cursing the bright spark from marketing who dreamed this up. Or maybe they are just enjoying their stroll alongside the river Otter. | Devon’s chief beaver-chip finder must be cursing the bright spark from marketing who dreamed this up. Or maybe they are just enjoying their stroll alongside the river Otter. |