Blog 8 Honey Bee Decline

This article discuses’ the recent ban on the use of certain pesticides in the UK.  According to the article certain types of pesticides being used over in Europe have recently been under scrutiny and have also been banned.  Examples of such pesticides that have already been banned in place such as Germany France and Italy include  imidacloprid, clothianidin and TMX.  The reason for the ban has been because many of these pesticides have been linked to the decline of the honeybee populations over Europe.  Britain has been blocking any attempts at a Europe wide ban saying that the impact any of the insecticides have on bees is unclear.  Many EU governments have also not complied to the ban, specifically of three major pesticides linked to honey bee death. Thus the European commission has threatened to force the ban through if the countries continue to refuse to adhere to the ban.  The article also mentions Syngenta and Bayer which are the two main insecticide companies blamed worldwide for the decline in bee populations.  In order to forestall a European ban, the companies have recently proposed a plan to help support bees which includes building more bee habitats and closer monitoring of insecticide use to see how much of it is actually contributing to bee decline

This was an okay article.  What I think it should have included and didn’t was why the decline of bees is a problem as many people are probably unaware of the real economic and ecological role that honey bees play as pollinators.  They are one of the few bee species that successfully can pollinate flowers as many other bee species do not.  The article also said nothing of public opinion in Europe surrounding this issue and I would have liked to have read that.  I do like however that it also added input from the “bad guys” (the companies responsible) and what they are doing in response.

11:43 AM 4/5/13

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/05/us-britain-bees-idUSBRE9340AN20130405