AIBU to want Cameron to spend a week painting pollen into apple blossoms??

[sieglinde]

I'm really worried about bees and pesticides; there are so few bees in my garden in summer compared with numbers a few years ago, and I have several beekeeping friends who have lost whole colonies.

Meanwhile the government are BLOCKING EU moves to ban the neonicotinoid pesticides that several trials have shown are a likely culprit. The EU move was a temporary ban pending further trials, but our dear guvverment evidently believes in fairies, perhaps as alternative pollinators, because without bees up to one-third of crops will fail, though their friends at Monsanto will walk away with Big Bucks. Furious, in fact.

If you don't think I am BU to hand Cameron a paintbrush and tell him to get on with it, some petitions you can sign are

www.avaaz.org/en/hours_to_save_the_bees/

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/47342 - this has SHAMINGLY few signatures...

Thanks.

Bump, ought to be a sticky really. Thank you and keep up the good work sieglinde

Just to add, I said ought to be a sticky as I don't believe the general public are even aware of this, I wasn't until I clicked on this thread and I do keep myself fairly up to date with what's going on.

I now have a vague feeling that my son said something to me about this a while back, but I dismissed it as aspie witterings!

btw love your title, love the image it conjures up.

bump

I spent 5 hours in my garden today and saw one single bee.
That's all, lots of birds but hardly any insects at all.

Thanks to all of you who signed and shared, also to those who bumped.

I too saw not one bee in a whole day in the garden yesterday. The silence is terrifying.

Agree I'd love this to be sticky! How do I get MNHQ to make it sticky?

Sieglinde I am totally with you.

What has really angered me about the news articles on this, is that not one mainstream article seems to have mentioned that DEFRAs study was not (what I would call) independent. From what I have read elsewhere, I believe it was paid for by the people who make the neonicitinoid pesticides.

From (what I would call) independent research conducted elsewhere in the EU it appears that these pesticides do have a marked and measurable affect on the nervous systems of bees. As such, they are dangerous and we should follow others in the EU in banning them.

I wouldn't be half so livid, if those writing the news articles had bothered to actually do some research (looking at you, BBC) - and if our 'authorities' were honest and transparent enough to make it clear that the study was paid for by pesticide giants.

Gaaahhh - rant over! Thank you for letting me vent, that's been waiting.

Link to Fera's report. As you can see it was produced by Fera, for Syngenta (big pharma).

I do not know how good/accurate this research is, but surely it would have more credence if it were completely independent? And yes, not being totally naieve, I know the big pharmas will argue that they are best placed to commission research on products they are developing (and that they want to know side-effects in case of future compensation claims).

I ve signed the petition

Pestcides harm the food chains and more animals and the people as well . Now that I come to think I used to see lots of bees years ago but fewer and fewer London. Even wasps are fewer.