Could Imported Bumblebees be Damaging our Wildlife?

Scientists have made an alarming discovery that could have alarming environmental consequences. It has been discovered that thousands of imported colonies of bumblebees are infected with a parasite that could be transmitted to native bees, and could even wipe them out.

 

This discovery has deeply worrying implications for the wellness and wellbeing of the UK’s wild bumblebees and honeybees, especially since the population of these is already in severe decline.

 

The study revealed that more than three-quarters of the colonies that are imported into the UK each year are full of parasites, and that these parasites could easily spill over and start affecting native bees. Urgent action is now needed to work out what to do about this situation and how to ensure the continued survival of these all-important species.

 

Effects of the parasites include killing the bees outright by harming their ability to function, which means that they are unable to find food, which is crucial to survival. This has already been a serious problem in Argentina, where native bees are being driven to near extinction by parasites which they have caught from imported bees.

 

Bees are imported for numerous reasons in their millions, and the UK currently receives around 40 – 50 thousand colonies every year. These are generally used to pollinate greenhouse crops, including tomatoes. Although the bees that are sold by these companies are claimed to be ‘disease free’, a recent study used DNA tests to find up to five different parasites on the bees themselves and around three on the food that was provided with them in transit.

 

The results were published in the Journal of Applied Ecology and also showed that three of these parasites had the capacity to infect bumblebees and four of them would be able to infect honeybees. This has led to urgent calls for the checking of the producers’ disease-free claims in more detail.

Categories: bees, bumblebees, imported

Save Britain’s Bees: Government Launches Urgent Review

The crisis facing bees and other pollinators in the UK has caused the government to launch an “urgent” review of the country’s environmental wellness, and pledge to introduce a national pollinator strategy. Lord Rupert de Mauley, minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), noted, ‘As we all recognise, pollinators play a vital role in the security of our food supply and the quality of our natural environment. In safeguarding their future, we can secure our own.’

In April, UK ministers opposed the European Union’s suspension of the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides linked to serious harm bees, albeit with the plan going ahead anyway. Friends of the Earth’s executive director Andy Atkins commented, ‘We’re delighted that enormous pressure for a bee action plan from scientists, businesses and the public has stung the government into action. The minister’s plan of action must be in place when bees emerge from hibernation next spring: we can’t afford to gamble any longer with our food, countryside and economy.’

According to Lynne Dicks, an expert on wild pollinators at the University of Cambridge, ‘All pollinators, not just bees but also many flies, butterflies, moths, wasps and beetles, rely on flowers, but the number of flowers in the countryside declined calamitously in the 20th century: we lost 97% of our flower-rich meadows between 1930 and 1984…Through enhancing the yield of many high value crops, pollination is worth between £430m and £510m to the UK economy, but amazingly, pollination doesn’t seem to be considered as an important agricultural input.’ She added, ‘At the moment, it is almost impossible for us to know whether actions to help bees and flies are having an effect, because we have no long-term monitoring.’

As it stands, we have lost nearly all of the UK’s wild honey bees, and some species of bumblebee have been lost altogether. De Mauley said, ‘We know there are gaps in the evidence. That is why I am launching an urgent and comprehensive review of current policy, evidence and civil society action on pollinators to identify what needs to be done to integrate and step up our approach. This urgent review will form the basis of a national pollinator strategy, which will bring together all the pollinator-friendly initiatives already underway and provide an umbrella for new action.’

Categories: bees, Pollination, Review

EU Insecticide Ban Not Enough to Reverse Damage, Warns Study

Many of Britain’s rarest wild bees are in deep trouble, which is a cause for great environmental wellness concern. This is according to a study commissioned by Friends of the Earth, which was published this month. The study argues that intensive farming and urban sprawl – which have decimated the flowery meadows that bees feed in – are the main culprits behind the decline.

The report focused on 12 key species across Britain. According to bee expert Prof Simon Potts, at the University of Reading, who led the study, ‘The way we farm and use land across the UK has pushed many rare bees into serious decline. I’m calling on the government to act swiftly to save these iconic creatures which are essential to a thriving environment and our food supply.’

The study discovered that, on the south coast of England, the range of the solitary potter flower bee, which digs burrows to lay eggs in, has shrunk dramatically, while Britain’s rarest solitary bee, the large mason bee, is on the brink of extinction in Wales. Moreover, the great yellow bumblebee has disappeared from 80% of its historic UK range and now relies on the unique machair habitat in western Scotland, a flower-rich grassland.

In the report, Potts writes, ‘The most pervasive causes of bee species decline are to be found in the way our countryside has changed in the past 60 years. Intensification of grazing regimes, an increase in pesticide use, loss of biodiverse field margins and hedgerows, the trend towards sterile monoculture, insensitive development and the sprawl of towns and cities are the main factors in this.’

Sandra Bell, at Friends of the Earth, commented, ‘We need a bee action plan now. These bee species are in real trouble. But people across the UK can help change all that with simple practical actions and by urging their MPs to play their part.’ On the 29^th of April, the European Union agreed to suspend Europe’s use of three neonicotinoid insecticides, but the report warns that the ban, which UK ministers opposed, will not reverse bee decline unless the other causes are also dealt with.

 

EU Insecticide Ban Not Enough to Reverse Damage, Warns Study

Categories: bees, decline, Research

US Environment Agency Sued Over Pesticide Effect on Bees

Pesticides have been considered a necessary evil in agriculture over many decades to protect vital crops from being destroyed. However, the danger from the chemicals used to destroy pests can also do damage to other creatures, particularly bees.

In the US, the federal government is being sued because of the damage done to bees by pesticides it has licensed. A group consisting of beekeepers, food campaigners and conservationists says the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for destroying bees because it has not suspended certain nerve agents for use.

Bees are essential for successful pollination of plants and for three-quarters of all food groups and so, argue advocates of a ban on certain pesticides, they should be protected by all means necessary.

The nerve agents at the centre of the lawsuit are known as neonicotinoids and are the most widely used pesticides around the world. However, environmental officials in the European Union are now considering suspending their use across the EU.

The Centre for Food Safety is leading the coalition suing the EPA and says it has taken this action only because the agency has failed to address the need to protect bees. The lawsuit names the pesticides clothianidin, made by Bayer, and thiamethoxan, manufactured by Syngenta. Both companies are represented by industry group Crop Life America (CLA), which is backing the EPA and says the neonicotinoids are not only rigorously tested but also essential for modern agriculture.

The EPA said it worked aggressively to protect bees and other pollinators from pesticide risks, and was bringing forward a review of neonicotinoid pesticides and their potential effects. That review will not, however, be completed until 2018.

Bee numbers have fallen dramatically in recent years, especially in the number of queens produced. Along with the use of pesticides, disease and habitat loss are blamed for a declining bee population.

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US Environment Agency Sued Over Pesticide Effect on Bees

Categories: bees, lawsuit, Pesticides