welcome, Guest
lisez en Français | online shop | useful links | sitemap | contact us | home
- Apiculture world wide
- Approaches to beekeeping
- Bee species & races
- Bees in development
- Bees, plants & pollination
- Conservation & environment
- Honey bee biology & behaviour
- Honey bee health & welfare
- Honey bee products
- Honey hunting
- Markets & trade
-
Practical beekeeping
Bee hives Colony management Equipment Harvesting and handling honey Harvesting beeswax Rafter methodology Rearing and breeding bees Safety for beekeepersBaiting and colonisation Choosing an apiary site Dividing colonies Feeding bees Finding queens Setting up and managing a new apiary Swarm collecting Swarm prevention and control Uniting beesCollecting, bulking and packing honey Honey extraction Honey handling and storage Honey harvesting Hygiene and honey standards
- Training & education
- Understanding terms
Germany suspends pesticide approvals after mass death of bees
Language: English
Year of publication: 0000
Number of pages: 1
Type of publication: Article In BfD Journal
Journal: Bees for Development
Edition: #88
Pages in original publication: 6
Publication location: Text on this website
Show article content
Print article content
Hide article content
Print article content
The German Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has reportedly suspended the approval of eight pesticides after the mass death of bees in one State. The German Research Centre for Cultivated Plants reported that 29 out of 30 dead bees it examined in Germany's Baden-Wuerttemberg state had been killed by contact with clothianidin, a product found in one of the seed treatment products.
The suspended products are: Antarc (ingredient: imidacloprid; produced by Bayer), Chinook (imidacloprid; Bayer), Cruiser (thiamethoxam; Syngenta), Elado (clothianidin; Bayer), Faibel (imidacloprid; Bayer), Mesurol (methiocarb; Bayer) and Poncho (clothianidin; Bayer).
Beekeepers and agricultural officials in France, Italy, and the Netherlands all noticed similar phenomena in their fields when planting began a few weeks ago. The use of these pesticides has also affected the population of wild bees and other insects, prompting the 'Coalition against Bayer-dangers' to demand that the pesticide maker withdraw all neonicotinoids from the market worldwide. "We have been pointing out the risks of neonicotinoids such as imidacloprid and clothianidin for almost 10 years now," Philipp Mimkes, spokesman for the 'Coalition against Bayer-dangers' said in a press release. He added that since Bayer has an annual turn-over of nearly €0.8 billion (US$1.25 billion), it makes imidacloprid and clothianidin its most important products. "This is the reason why Bayer, despite serious environmental damage, is fighting against any application prohibitions," Mimkes added.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency's fact sheet, clothianidin, which is a non-selective poison, is highly toxic to honey bees. The chemical is often sprayed on corn fields during spring planting to create a protective film on cornfields.
Nidhi Sharma, www.allheadlinenews.com