Hommels

Nötig seien zumindest zehn Prozent der landwirtschaftlich genutzten Flächen und der Naturräume für die Artenvielfalt, forderten der stellvertretende Nabu-Landeschef Rainer Hanke und die Thüringer Imkerverbände am Dienstag (12.02.2013) in Weimar. Vor allem Umweltgifte und Pflanzenschutzmittel dezimierten die wichtigen Insekten, erklärte Hanke. Dies habe gravierende Auswirkungen auf das gesamte Ökosystem. So gehe die Zahl der bestäubten Blütenpflanzen seit Jahrzehnten zurück. "Die Insekten bilden die Grundlage der Nahrungsmittelpyramide", betonte Mike Wünscher vom Landesverband der Buckfastimker Thüringen und Sachsen-Anhalt. Inzwischen sei es normal, wenn 10 bis 20 Prozent einer Bienenpopulation den Winter nicht überlebten. Vor 30 Jahren hätte die Sterblichkeit noch bei unter 2 Prozent gelegen, fügte er hinzu. Unterstützung bekamen die Bienenfreunde von der Grünen-Fraktion und der Linkspartei im Landtag. Laut einer EU-Richtlinie müssen derzeit sieben Prozent der landwirtschaftlichen Betriebsflächen für die sogenannte Biodiversität (Artenreichtum, biologische Vielfalt) reserviert werden. Nach Angaben der Thüringer Imkerverbände werden in Thüringen etwa 18.700 Bienenvölker von rund 2350 Imkern betreut. Damit kommt nur etwa ein Volk auf jeden Quadratkilometer des Freistaats. Für eine angemessene Bestäubung werde aber eine vierfache Population benötigt.

Bijen verdwijnen massaal, één op vier bijen haalt het einde van de winter niet. Door de herhaaldelijke opname van zeer kleine hoeveelheden van neonicotinoide insecticiden, verzwakken de bijen. Ze raken gedesoriënteerd en vinden de weg naar hun kolonie niet terug. Daarbovenop wordt hun voortbestaan bedreigd door een tekort aan bloemen in het landschap waardoor ze onvoldoende stuifmeel en nectar vinden en hebben de kolonies te lijden onder de varroamijt. Imkerkasten blijven leeg en bloemen worden niet bevrucht. Hommels en solitaire bijen kunnen blootgesteld worden aan deze pesticiden door het gebruik van bodem- en plantmateriaal voor hun nest. In België komen er, naast de bekende honingbij, ook meer dan 300 solitaire bijen- en hommelsoorten voor. Er bestaan geen data over de gevolgen van neonicotinoïden voor die solitaire bijen en hommels, maar Natuurpunt vermoedt dat ze nog kwetsbaarder zijn. Daarbovenop brengt de dood van een solitair vrouwtje haar hele nest in gevaar. In België worden deze nieuwe generatie pesticiden gebruikt op 100.000 ha landbouwgrond (vooral voor de teelten bieten en wintergerst). Een verbod op de meest aantrekkelijke teelten voor bijen, zoals voorgesteld door de Europese Commissie, is een goed begin, maar is onvoldoende om de bijensterfte te stoppen. De enige manier om dit te vermijden is een volledig verbod opleggen.

Heute (07.02.2013) treffen Vertreter der EU-Kommission mit Managern aus der Agrochemie-Branche und weiteren Interessenvertretern zusammen. Da werden garantiert die Fetzen fliegen. Die EU entscheidet Ende Februar, ob 3 Insektizide ab Juli bei Nutzpflanzen verboten werden sollen, die von Bienen gerne bestäubt werden. Kommt es so weit, würde sich laut Berichten von «Südostschweiz» und «Aargauer Zeitung» wohl auch die Schweiz anschliessen. Syngenta bestreitet den Zusammenhang mit dem Bienensterben und macht vielmehr die berüchtigten Varroa-Milben dafür verantwortlich. Gegen einen Verkaufsstopp wehrt sich der Konzern heftig. Die Folgen fürs eigene Geschäft werden aber kleingeredet. Weniger als 0,5 Prozent des weltweiten Umsatzes wären gefährdet. Geschickt wird auf mögliche Folgen für die Bauern verwiesen: Mit Ertragsausfällen von 40 Prozent wird gedroht und einem gesamtwirtschaftlichen Schaden von fünf Milliarden Euro für die EU. Was Syngenta nicht sagt: Ein Verbot in der EU könnte eine Signalwirkung haben. Die Produkte werden in 80 Ländern eingesetzt.

Swiss group Syngenta forecast another year of record sales as high crop prices and erratic weather spur farmers to use more of its pesticides, fertilisers and advanced seeds to boost yields. Net profit rose 17 percent to $1.87 billion to beat the average analyst forecast in a Reuters poll. Sales at Syngenta, which competes with DuPont, and Germany's Bayer, rose 7 percent in 2012 to $14.2 billion, falling just short of the average analyst forecast of $14.3 billion. Syngenta, which sells products to kill weeds and bugs as well as genetically-modified seeds, is targeting sales of its top eight crops of $25 billion by 2020. The Basel-based firm announced a dividend of 9.50 Swiss francs per share, up from 8 francs a year ago. A sharp fall in bee populations around the world in recent years has prompted criticism of pesticide use and last week the European Commission said it wanted EU member states to suspend the use of neonicotinoid insecticides. Mack said the decision was "scientifically misguided", but said it would have no material impact on 2013 sales as any restriction would only come into place after the sunflower, oil seed rape and corn is largely sown. Its pesticide, named Cruiser OCR, makes up less than 0.5 percent of group sales, and Chief Executive Mack said Syngenta would try to offset any loss in revenue through other products.

Syngenta has written to farm ministers in France and The Netherlands to urge them to vote down an EU proposal to ban neonicotinoid pesticides. Both countries have voiced their opposition against the continued use of neonicotinoids, which some scientists have linked to declining bee populations. The letter claims that the varroa mite and the diseases it transmits are the "principal causes of bee health". It asks why countries such as Scotland and Switzerland have poor bee health, despite their very limited use of neonicotinoid seed treatment. However, bee populations in Australia, where neonicotinoids are widely used, are "thriving". In its letter, Syngenta claims the EFSA evaluation on Cruiser (thiamethoxam) ignored key field studies and found "no unacceptable or unmanageable risks to bee populations". "Given the fact that thiamethoxam has been used on millions of hectares of French crops without damaging the health of bees over the past X years, it's no surprise that EFSA acknowledged that its latest theoretical evaluation contained a 'high level of uncertainty'," the letter says. Later this month, member states will be asked to vote on an European Commission proposal for a two-year ban on the use of neonicotinoids on crops considered attractive to bees, such as oilseed rape, maize, sunflowers and cotton. France and The Netherlands support a ban, but the UK, Germany and Spain are understood to be against it. If enough countries vote against the proposal, a blocking minority of votes could derail a ban. An industry source said: "For the proposal to be passed, there has to be a qualified majority - around two-thirds of the vote. The bigger EU countries have more votes than the smaller EU countries. If you were to get Spain, Germany and the UK to vote against a ban, then you would be running very close to a blocking minority."

Satellite technology and advances in robotics are set to revolutionise the future of farming. Out go the heavy, soil destroying combines and tractors, in come a light army of mini robots which weed, spray and pick crops at the optimum time. Expert agronomists will advise thousands of farmers at a time. Using real data, farmers will be able to maximise the yield and quality of the crops as they leave the field. Sarah Cruddas meets the scientists engineering the robotic shepherds of the future, and hops into the cab of a self-driving tractor to experience labour and fuel saving precision farming. She also hears from Science Minister, David Willetts who believes that the UK can become Europe's centre of satellite technology. The data provided will, in the coming years, become more and more detailed enabling farmers to have a greater understanding of their land and allow them to produce yield maps and farm more efficiently than ever before. Costing The Earth ask if farms of the future will be run by a fleet of robots: from crop-picking automatons to swarms of electronic bees, and whether the farmer of the future be found in a control centre rather than out in a muddy field.

The British Government is completely free to ignore recommendations from European safety regulators that controversial nerve-agent pesticides should not be used on crops visited by bees, MPs were told. Herman Fontier, head of the pesticides division of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), told a Parliamentary committee that his organisation’s recommendation two weeks ago that neonicotinoid pesticides, widely blamed for bee declines around the world, should be kept away from bees, was merely a risk assessment – and it was up to individual EU member states whether or not to act on it. In Britain the Environment Secretary, Owen Patterson, has already indicated that the Government is likely to ignore the recommendation and is opposed to an immediate ban on three neonicotinoids highlighted by the EFSA report, imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, made by the giant agribusiness companies Bayer and Syngenta. Mr Patterson’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is carrying out its own research into neonicotinoids and bees. The EFSA report, which came after more than 30 scientific papers implicating the chemicals in damage to bees and bee colonies, said that they “pose a number of risks to bee health”. But asked by the Green MP Caroline Lucas, at a hearing of the Environment Audit Committee, whether or not EFSA could take the recommendation any further, Mr Fontier said they could not. His organisation dealt only with risk assessment, not with risk management, he said. “A lot of scientific rigour has gone into your conclusion that these chemicals should only be used on crops not attractive to bees, and that’s a fairly catergorical statement,” Ms Lucas said. “But if a member state decides to do something completely different, do you just have to say, ‘fine, there’s nothing we can do’?” “There’s nothing, really nothing more we can do,” Mr Fontier said.

While European policymakers are taking steps to protect bees from harmful pesticides, EPA is poised to approve yet another bee-toxic pesticide for use here in the U.S. Instead of following the science and protecting bees from known harms, the agency is set to conditionally register another new pesticide known to harm bees, sulfoxaflor, for a broad variety of uses. Sulfoxaflor is a cousin to imidacloprid and clothianidin, with shared mechanisms of action (all work on the same bee brain synapses — nicotinic acetylcholine receptors).