• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

EU bans BASF pesticide over bee health fears

Rainman05

Banned
DP Veteran
Joined
Sep 14, 2012
Messages
10,032
Reaction score
4,966
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Independent
EU bans BASF pesticide over bee health fears | Reuters

(Reuters) - The European Union added a pesticide made by German chemical firm BASF to its blacklist of substances suspected of playing a role in declining bee populations.

Member governments banned the use of agricultural insecticide fipronil to treat maize and sunflower seeds, the European Commission said.

The restrictions take effect from December 31 but seeds which have already been treated can be sown until the end of February 2014.

Unlike the banned neonicotinoids, fipronil is not widely used in Europe, with only three other EU countries currently using it for maize production besides Spain and Romania, the Commission said.

So, this also: Save the honey bees

As a person who is skilled in apiculture, my grandfather taught me, I support any ban on any pesticides, especially the neoniicotinoids (based on nicotine). Bees are our friends. We depend on their existence. I put this news a direct response to viewing this video. I was aware of the problems with bees for 2 years now but it was only yesterday that the EU has passed a comprehensive ban legislation on dubious pesticides.

 
It's about time!
This **** should be banned for good. The bees don't deserve to die because of some greedy company.
 
It's about time!
This **** should be banned for good. The bees don't deserve to die because of some greedy company.

We die if the bees die. They keep the ecosystem healthy and functioning.
 
This is a HUGE Issue.
The precise cause/causes for Colony Collapse Disorder aren't known, but Anything we can do to stop it, we should do.

http://www.mnn.com/local-reports/pennsylvania/local-blog/the-importance-of-honeybees said:
Just how important are honeybees to the human diet? Typically, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, these under-appreciated workers pollinate 80% of our flowering crops which constitute 1/3 of everything we eat. Losing them could affect not only dietary staples such as apples, broccoli, strawberries, nuts, asparagus, blueberries and cucumbers, but may threaten our beef and dairy industries if alfalfa is not available for feed. One Cornell University study estimated that honeybees annually pollinate $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the U.S.
Essentially, if honeybees disappear, they could take most of our insect pollinated plants with them, potentially reducing mankind to little more than a water diet.
[........]
Coincidentally, a jar of Chestnut Honey has been my profile pic for a month, and briefly my Avatar pic as well.
It is produced/gathered for only a short time during which those trees are in flower: another pollinated crop.
Happily working my way through a Case of it after a wide taste test.
 
Last edited:
This is a HUGE Issue.
The precise cause/causes for Colony Collapse Disorder aren't known, but Anything we can do to stop it, we should do.

Coincidentally, a jar of Chestnut Honey has been my profile pic for a month, and briefly my Avatar pic as well.
It is produced/gathered for only a short time during which those trees are in flower: another pollinated crop.
Happily working my way through a Case of it after a wide taste test.

May be a small step towards helping:

BBC News - Cornish bee 'could help save species from killer disease'

Paul
 
Seems that wasps have suffered but this time because of the strange weather we keep getting in Europe - though I miss wasps far less than I ever will miss bees.
 
So a quick update.

Apparently one of the main reasons for CCD is also some kind fungi. There are some kind of parasites that grow in fungi and move to all sort of fruits and vegetables that are very harmful to bees. And if they get in a colony they can infect the entire colony.

The moment there is a comprehensive report on the issue, I shall post it.
 
-- I support any ban on any pesticides, especially the neoniicotinoids (based on nicotine) --

There was an interesting Horizon show on BBC 2 recently I only caught the last 20 minutes where they showed a German scientist who has been testing and researching the effect of neonicotinoids and the video was very compelling.

However.. the program did clearly say that bees in Australia are doing very well despite high use of neonicotinoids. They also showed that while bees in the UK countryside are having problems, the same bee species that have hives in major UK cities are doing really well. The suspicion was that the range of flowers and plants that bees have access to in some parts of the countryside is limited and thus having an effect.

The answers and problems may still be very complex
 
Back
Top Bottom