Reading Time: 3 minutes London | Reuters — Two major studies into how bees are affected by a group of pesticides banned in Europe gave mixed results on Thursday, fuelling a row over whether the neonicotinoid pesticides are safe. The studies, one conducted across three European countries and another in Canada, found some negative effects after exposure to neonicotinoids […] Read more
Field studies fuel dispute over whether neonics harm bees
Greig: Ontario environment minister reaches out to farmers
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Ontario Liberal government appears to be attempting to mend the gap created between the government and rural Ontario. Premier Kathleen Wynne apologized on Nov. 19 to Ontarians for the significant rise in electricity costs, now about the highest in North America. According to media reports she said it was her mistake and her government […] Read more
Long-term U.K. study links neonics to wild bee declines
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — Wild bees that forage from oilseed rape crops treated with insecticides known as neonicotinoids are more likely to undergo long-term population declines than bees that forage from other sources, according to the findings of an 18-year study. The new research covered 62 species of bee found in the wild in Britain […] Read more
Leading insecticide cuts bee sperm by almost 40 per cent
Reading Time: < 1 minute The world’s most widely used insecticide is an inadvertent contraceptive for bees, cutting live sperm in males by almost 40 per cent, The Guardian in the UK is reporting. Citing research led by Lars Straub at the University of Bern, Switzerland, the report says neonicotinoid pesticides were found to cut the lifespan of the drones […] Read more
France’s Senate suspends palm oil tax, delays neonic ban
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — The French Senate on Thursday adopted a revised version of its biodiversity bill in which senators scrapped an additional tax on palm oil and delayed until 2020 a ban on pesticides blamed for harming bees. The decisions are not final as the two houses of the French parliament now have to […] Read more
In risks to bees, study finds not all neonics equal
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — A group of chemical insecticides known as neonicotinoids that have been banned in Europe due to fears about potential harm to bees have been found in new research to have very differential risks for bumblebees. Scientists who conducted the research said their findings showed that at least one neonicotinoid in the […] Read more
Ontario court rejects grower appeal on neonic rules
Reading Time: 2 minutes The group representing Ontario’s corn and soybean growers, seeking a stay on the province’s new restrictions for use of neonicotinoid seed treatments, won’t get its wish from the provincial Court of Appeal. The appeal court on Wednesday dismissed a March 9 application from Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) seeking an interpretation of the province’s new […] Read more
France moves toward all-out ban on neonics
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — French lawmakers approved plans for a total ban on some widely used pesticides blamed for harming bees, going beyond European Union restrictions in a fierce debate that has pitched farmers and chemical firms against beekeepers and green groups. The EU limited the use of neonicotinoid chemicals, produced by companies including Bayer […] Read more
Environment commissioner criticizes neonic registrations
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s official environmental watchdog on Tuesday expressed concern that authorities were allowing the long-term use of pesticides linked to bee deaths despite not having enough information about the products. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) can grant a five-year provisional license to some products to give manufacturers time to provide […] Read more
Ontario weighs mandatory beekeeping practices in draft plan
Reading Time: 3 minutes Fresh off limiting farmers’ use of neonicotinoid seed treatments, the Ontario government now wants public comment on further moves it might make to improve the health of bees and other pollinators in the province. Among the “potential actions” up for consideration in the province’s new draft action plan are the use of public lands to expand […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
