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The days of empty boxes being filled by swarms are over. Unless your bees are on a Eucalyptus honey flow or in native forests, it seems you are in trouble. The rate of recent use of Neonics is unprecedented in Australia's pesticide history; the growth in use amounts to a complete take over of most of our major crops here. Beekeepers are running away from canola (oilseed rape) for the first time in history, we used to run towards it! I can only see a downward spiral, Australian beekeepers are mostly older and the art of generational beekeeping is almost a myth.

Fresh potatoes (228 samples) from 34 farmers’ markets in Alberta were analyzed for 29 pesticides. Residues of three different pesticides were found in the samples tested with chlorpropham being most frequently detected (n = 13) at concentrations ranging from 15 to 7,600 microgram per kilogram. Azoxystrobin (n = 11) and imidacloprid (n = 8) were found at concentrations ranging from 0.6 to 5.1 and 15–31 microgram per kilogram, respectively. All pesticide concentrations were below Canadian maximum residue limits as established for potatoes. No pesticide residues were detected in 23 potato samples obtained from certified organic farmers.

Pollinators are an essential part of a garden; so essential in fact, that 90 percent of the 250,000 flowering species now in existence rely on them according to the University of Georgia. Bees and butterflies make up the largest group of pollinators; however, the interior design of certain types of flowers makes it impossible for bees or butterflies to pollinate. These plants must rely on other types of insects to seek out the nectar they produce and pollinate them in the process.

Britain’s 30 million hedgehogs have been reduced to 1.3 million in the last 50 years. Three quarters of butterfly species are in decline. Britain has lost three of its 24 species of bumblebee in last 70 years. Moths numbers have dropped by a third since 1968. In the last 100 years, around 60 species of moth have become extinct. There are those who say all this angst about biodiversity is nonsense. But such free-marketers are wrong. Scottish Natural Heritage’s list of over 1,000 threatened species is not dominated by nice furry mammals or dramatic birds of prey, but by obscure lichens, algae, fungi, flowering plants, beetles, and more than 300 other insects on which the chaps at the top of the Mikado’s list depend, including us. “Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

THE number of butterflies in Scotland hit an all-time low. Butterfly Conservation said the number of individual butterflies recorded was down 11% on the previous year and it warned of long-term decline in some species after the last four years have seen successive population falls. There are 59 species of butterfly, after four became extinct during the last century. The common blue butterfly was the worst affected this year, with its numbers tumbling by 61% in the UK-wide count, although it remains the seventh most common species in Scotland. The small tortoiseshell, which has declined in numbers in the rest of the UK, was the most common butterfly spotted north of the Border and three times as many of the species were recorded per count in Scotland than in England. The red admiral, ringlet and meadow brown are also faring relatively well north of the Border.

New Delhi: Red Pierrot, Common Lime, Plain Tiger, Blue Pansy or the Common Castor may be unfamiliar names to most Indians, although it is likely that most would have seen one or more of the five—the most common butterflies found in India. While it is unlikely that most people would notice their absence, it is almost certain that plants will—butterflies, such as these, help them reproduce. The subcontinent has approximately 1,300 of more than 20,000 butterfly species known, said Kishen Das, a US-based lepidopterist. That’s about 6.5% of the global butterfly diversity. However, the problem is that around 100 of the butterfly species found in India are nearing extinction, according to Surya Prakash, a professor at the department of life sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University. “Few are aware of the crucial pollination role the butterfly plays, which is second only to the honeybee,” he adds.