Honeybees

Nun ist es endgültig: Der Handel und die Aussaat von Wintergetreidesaatgut mit neonikotinoiden Beizen ist nun in Deutschland ausnahmslos verboten. Damit wird die EU-Regelung verschärft. Für einen besseren Bienenschutz hat das Ministerium nun Saatgut von Wintergetreide, das mit den Neonicotinoiden Clothianidin, Imidacloprid oder Thiamethoxam behandelt wurde, in Deutschland ausnahmslos verboten. In Deutschland selbst war eine Saatgutbehandlung mit diesen Insektiziden bereits untersagt. Mit der Neuregelung wird nun auch die Einfuhr von solchem Saatgut und dessen Aussaat verboten.

We have identified 30 papers from a literature search on PubMed and Google Scholar using the following combined key words of “pollinators”, “honeybee”, “bees”, “pesticides”, or “neonicotinoids”, as of September 30, 2014, and from a cross-reference check of a report made available by European Parliament in preparation to fulfill their regulatory mandate on the issue of protecting pollinators among their membership nations.

Nationally hay meadows are in decline, according to a survey carried out in the 1980s, over 97 per cent of flower rich grasslands have been lost since 1930 and those that remain are decreasing in wildlife value. Northern England was once covered in species rich upland flower meadows and even here it is estimated that only a 1000 ha remain. When a meadow is lost it is not just the flowers that disappear but the hundreds of insects including many species of butterfly and bee that rely on them and even the bats that feed on the insects.

Human disturbance negatively affects the pollination and seed dispersal of forest trees -- an effect that can be observed in both tropical and temperate forests. This is the key result of a synthesis of 408 studies from 34 countries around the globe. In the long term, less pollination and seed dispersal is likely to reduce the ability of forests to natural regenerate. The researchers investigated all processes in the plant regeneration cycle and specifically asked how much they are each affected by humans.

Menschliche Eingriffe wirken sich negativ auf die Bestäubung und Samenausbreitung von Bäumen und anderen Waldpflanzen aus. Verantwortlich ist in erster Linie der Rückgang der daran beteiligten Insekten, Vögel und Säugetiere. Damit verringert sich langfristig die Möglichkeit des Waldes, eigenständig nachzuwachsen. Bestäubung und Samenausbreitung von Sträuchern und Bäumen basieren fast ausschliesslich auf Tieren. Dieser Effekt ist sowohl in tropischen Wäldern als auch in Wäldern der gemäßigten Breiten beobachtbar.

A VISITING US entomologist has slammed Australia’s use of insecticide seed dressings as a prophylactic treatment saying the treatments may be doing more harm than good by killing off beneficial insect species. Jonathan Lundgren, Blue Dasher Farm, South Dakota, said both predatory insect species that feed on problem pests and bees, critical for the pollination of some crops, were adversely impacted by seed dressings in particular by neo-nicotinoid products, which are popular as seed treatments in Australia.

In this study, a new method has been developed to determine seven neonicotinoid insecticides (acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam) in bee pollen using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a selective MS detector (qTOF). An efficient sample treatment involving an optimized quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe method was proposed. In all cases, average analyte recoveries were between 91 and 105%, and no matrix effect was observed.

Worldwide pollinator declines are attributed to a number of factors, including pesticide exposures. Neonicotinoid insecticides specifically have been detected in surface waters, non-target vegetation, and bee products, but the risks posed by environmental exposures are still not well understood. Pollinator strips were tested for clothianidin contamination in plant tissues, and the risks to honey bees assessed. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) quantified clothianidin in leaf, nectar, honey, and bee bread at organic and seed-treated farms.

Insect populations are declining dramatically in many parts of the world, recent studies show. Researchers say various factors, from monoculture farming to habitat loss, are to blame for the plight of insects, which are essential to agriculture and ecosystems.