The last time I engaged with the 38 Degrees campaigners was when they were petitioning to save the British woodland from being sold off to commercial interests. 38 Degrees made supporting and lobbying for the campaign really easy, and because of this they managed to elicit a huge response that actually had a noticeable political effect. Now the group have created a new campaign that has made me swell the ranks of those petitioning the Government to take action to prevent the decline of our indigenous honeybees.
The campaign being run states that the Government should ban the use of a pesticide group known as Neonicotinoids. Here is some information about Neonicotinoid pesticides. From what I can gather it may only be a specific active ingredient in those pesticides that has been found to have an effect upon bees, but in my mind action to stem the decline and extinction of a species as important as the bee should be preventative and proactive. We should be eliminating all threats, and then re-introducing banned elements when they have proved that they DON’T have a detrimental effect on such an important part of the natural cycle as our pollinators do.
Often quoted is Albert Einstein, the well-known apiologist apologist, who said if the honey bees were suddenly gone mankind would have about four years left to live. Well, they’re going. Should we wait until they’re gone before taking decisive action? We can always recreate them, right?
The recent study of the so-called “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD) gave many suspected causes, concluding that a compounding of effects was building up amongst the bee colonies and causing a tipping point in toxicity. Particularly linked to bee decline is one particular active substance in the Neonicotinoids – Imidacloprid:
“… it seems clear that no single factor alone is responsible for the malady, however honey bees are thought to possibly be affected by such chemicals which are known to work their way through the plant up into the flowers and leave residues in the nectar and pollen which bees forage on. The scientists studying CCD have tested samples of pollen and have indicated findings of a broad range of substances, including insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. They note that while the doses taken up by bees are not lethal, they are concerned about possible chronic problems caused by long-term exposure” (source:Wikipedia)
There are other suspected chemical sources that may be contributing to this issue, but when all is said and done the finger points back to the very industries that are currently profiting from the sale of chemicals that have little means of discrimination when it comes to their destructive powers. Farmers are encouraged to spray vast areas of their land indiscriminately, and to expect that Nature will clean herself up afterwards through rainfall and water courses.
Someone needs to make a show of hands at this point to say “There has to be a better way!”. There is – it’s called biological pest control. A recent mainstream news feature discussed the “breakthrough” concept of using Nature’s own predatory hierarchy to keep a check and balance in the system of pest control. Wow – what a revolution!
The only revolution required is the re-instatement of Nature’s own controls. For the safety of all species involved in the food chain, we need to act to restore normality in farming. If you feel strongly about this issue you can add your weight to the campaign to ban pesticides organised by the 38 Degrees team. I have.
Gwas.
