Around the Colony : 5 Neonics not to Blame?


Rather than declining, the number of managed honey bee colonies in North America is increasing according to statistics from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA; http://tinyurl. com/nf9y2r9) and Statistics Canada (http://tinyurl.com/ k8hw33r). After sharp declines blamed on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), colony numbers have gradually recovered to the highest level for 20 years. Results of a three-year study by scientists at the USDA conclude: ‘Given the weight of evidence, chronic exposure to imidacloprid at the higher range of fi eld doses (20 to 100 μg/kg) in pollen of certain treated crops could cause negative impacts on honey bee colony health and reduced overwintering success, but the most likely encountered high range of fi eld doses relevant for seed-treated crops (5 μg/kg) had negligible effects on colony health and are unlikely a sole cause of colony declines’. (Dively, GP, et al [2015]. Assessment of Chronic Sublethal Effects of Imidacloprid on Honey Bee Colony Health. PLOS One. http://tinyurl.com/ kak4z42)


The scientists agree that imidacloprid contributes to bee deaths but state there is a bigger picture. Other factors are thought to include varroa and nosema, foul brood, viruses, drought and loss of habitat. Over time, pesticide residue levels became non-detectable within the bee bread and honey. While in one year, colony overwintering survival appeared to be linked to high doses of the pesticide, the link collapsed the following year. There was no consistent pattern suggesting reports of harm were anything more than random data noise. Read the full story at http://tinyurl.com/pvvymgg


May 2015 Vol 97 No 5


Neonicotinoids: Wrong Conclusions?


AROUND THE Colony News from around the beekeeping world


Bulbs for Friends of the Honey Bee


JUB Holland, a Dutch bulb company, will donate money from sales of its bee mix bulbs to Friends of the Honey Bee, operated by the British Beekeepers’ Association. The donations will be used to support research into varroa and to promote the planting of bee-friendly plants.


Two mixes are available. Spring-fl owering bulbs include Anemone blanda, Chionodoxa luciliae, Crocus tommasinianus Ruby Giant, Muscari armeniacum (Grape Hyacinth), Nectaroscordum siculum and Tulipa linofolia. Summer-fl owering bulbs include Anemone Mr Fokker, Coreopsis Moonbeam, Dahlia Sneezy, Lilium Late Morning and Liatris spicata. The spring bulbs are available from August to December with the summer ones on sale from February to mid-May. Buy yours from the BBKA website (www.bbka.org.uk).


European Red List of Bees


The European Red List reviews the status of European species, identifying species threatened with extinction at the regional level. The Red List summarising results for all described native European bees has recently been published. Overall, 9.2% of bees are considered threatened in all of Europe, while in EU countries the level is 9.1%. A further 5.2% and 5.4% of bees are Near Threatened in Europe and the EU, respectively (101 species at both levels). However, there is insuffi cient scientifi c information to evaluate the risk of extinction for 1101 species (56.7%) in Europe and 1048 species (55.6%) in the EU. For European bee species, 7.7% (150 species) have declining populations, 12.6% (244 species) are


more or less stable and 0.7% (13 species) are increasing. A high proportion of threatened bee species are endemic to either Europe (20.4%, 400 species) or the EU (14.6%, 277 species), highlighting the responsibility of these countries to protect the global populations of these species. Almost 30% of all the species threatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable) at the European level are endemic to Europe, ie, found nowhere else in the world. The main threat to European bees is habitat loss as a result of agriculture intensifi cation, urban development, increased frequency of fi res and climate change. Four policy recommendations have been made in the areas of species conservation, habitat conservation, agri-environment schemes and agricultural production. Read the full report at http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/erl_of_bees_low_res_for_web.pdf


www.bee-craft.com


In 2013, a study by the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) concluded that colonies ‘remained viable and productive in the presence of the neonicotinoid pesticides under these fi eld conditions’. A reanalysis of the data by


Professor Dave Goulson of the University of Sussex has shown that the number of queen bumblebees was reduced in all nests containing clothianidin. The Independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides will review this analysis. The original study was used to support the government’s opposition to the European Union’s two-year ban on neonicotinoids in 2013. A Fera spokesman said: ‘In the executive summary of our 2013 report we clearly stated that our experiment lacked the power to reach any fi rm conclusions about the impact of neonicotinoid-coated seed on bumblebee health. Whilst there was an absence of evidence to support the hypothesis that neonicotinoids harm bees, this does not lead to the conclusion that they are benign’.


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