17 January 2017
In 2013 the European Union (EU) imposed a temporary ban on the use of neonicotinoids in insecticides applied to crops with a view to protecting both wild and domesticated bee populations and other insect pollinators. The manufacturers of the neonicotinoidal products (neonics) claimed this was an over-reaction to what they alleged was flawed research. Subject to a small number of exemptions, the restriction on the use of these products continues while the EU scientists review the results of information gathered over the last three years. They are expected to conclude their evaluation by the end of this month - January 2017.
Over the last few years a significant amount of research has been conducted into the effects the ‘neonics’ have on bees, and the results appear to support the claim that while simple exposure to neonics is not lethal, a longer term exposure leads to detrimental changes in the bees’ behaviour which will reduce the ability of the colony to survive and possibly lead to its collapse. For example, an article in The Guardian in December 2016 reported that scientists at the University of Stirling in Scotland found that bumblebees which would normally pollinate tomatoes and potatoes by utilising their ‘buzz’ failed to do this after they had been exposed to doses of neonics. Apparently the affected bees were simply unable to learn the technique. This would reduce the foraging efficiency of these bees, and may lead to their inability to adequately feed the developing bees back in the colony.
Another report published in August 2016 by FERA Science Ltd and others, concluded that ‘sub-lethal effects of neonicotinoids could scale up to cause losses of bee biodiversity’ and that ‘restrictions on neonicotinoid use may reduce population declines’.
This advice appears to have already been accepted by the French who will apparently ban the use of neonicotinoids from September 2018.
Despite the above, there is no suggestion that neonicotinoid use in all its forms will be banned. There is a difference between the seed treated use which gives rise to the systemic transmission of the chemical, and thus its presence in all parts of the plant - including the pollen - and the use as a spray when it is simply on the surface of the plant and not in the pollen. The research conducted by FERA, referred to above, reported that ’the application of foliar applied insecticides had little or no negative consequences for population persistence of wild bees’.
None of the researchers appear to suggest that the use of neonicotinoids is the sole factor in the dramatic reductions in bee populations and diversity, and other factors, including climate change, habitat loss and pathogens have had an effect. Notwithstanding any possible changes to the legal framework, the agricultural community should be aware of the contributions made by the pollinators to their profits, and should contribute to their wellbeing wherever possible.
This matter is specifically referred to in the EU Basic Payments Scheme (BPS) where, if a claim is made under the BPS, the ‘greening’ rules are compulsory and any breaches could lead to a reduction of up to 30% of the entitlement. One of the greening rules is the establishment of Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) which applies to farms of more than 15 hectares of arable land and the EFA must then be at least 5% of the arable land. Farmers have some choice as to which areas of their land they make into EFAs and the rules permit a range of possible uses including hedges, buffer strips and fallow land. The conditions allow the sowing of wild flowers and restrict the trimming of hedges to provide foraging areas for pollinators.
A joint venture between the British Beekeeper Association (BBKA), the Crop Protection Association and the NFU has recently announced a new scheme to enable farmers to notify beekeepers of their crop spraying activity. The scheme involves a new alert app BeeConnected and allows farmers to quickly and simply notify beekeepers of where, when and what spraying activity is planned. Farmers and beekeepers are encouraged to register to take advantage of the scheme at www.beeconnected.org.uk.
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