bees - LJN Blog Posts - Landscape Juice Network2024-03-29T12:20:36Zhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/beesGarden centres urged to drop bug killer to protect beeshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/garden-centres-urged-to-drop-bug-killer-to-protect-bees2015-04-09T06:02:47.000Z2015-04-09T06:02:47.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p><span>Nine garden centre chains including B&Q and Homebase stock product containing neonicotinoid linked to bee declines, says Ethical Consumer</span></p>
<p>Garden centres are being urged to withdraw products which contain a type of pesticide linked to bee declines.</p>
<p>In its latest product guide, Ethical Consumer magazine said that nine of the UK’s leading garden centres including B&Q and Homebase were selling Provado Ultimate Bug Killer which contains a neonicotinoid chemical known as thiacloprid.</p>
<p>Environmental campaigners say that while thiacloprid is less toxic to bees than three other neonicotinoid pesticides which have been banned for use on crops attractive to honey bees , there is growing evidence the chemical harms the pollinating insects.</p>
<p>Read in full: <a href="http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/homegarden/gardencentres.aspx" target="_blank">Garden centres urged to drop bug killer to protect bees</a></p>
</div>Two Hebridean islands to become honeybee havenshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/two-hebridean-islands-to-become-honeybee-havens2013-10-08T10:05:48.000Z2013-10-08T10:05:48.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p>Two Hebridean islands are to become the UK’s first reserve for native honeybees after a ruling by the Scottish government.</p>
<p>The islands of Colonsay and Oronsay have about 50 colonies and the new order aims to protect them from cross-breeding and disease.</p>
<p>The varroa mite, which has devastated bee colonies across the country, has not affected Colonsay or Oronsay.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2013/279/resources" target="_blank">Bee Keeping (Colonsay and Oronsay) Order 2013</a> comes into force on 1 January 2014 and it will be illegal to keep honeybees on the islands except Apis mellifera mellifera.</p>
<p>These have been chosen due to their hardiness as they are believed to be able to survive the cold and wet weather conditions of Scotland’s west coast.</p>
</div>Government rejects scientific case for a ban on pesticides linked to bee declinehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/government-rejects-scientific-case-for-a-ban-on-pesticides-linked2013-09-10T09:11:21.000Z2013-09-10T09:11:21.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p>In its response to the Environmental Audit Committee report on Pollinators and Pesticides, the government rejects the mounting peer-reviewed evidence that led the European Commission to conclude that a moratorium on the use of three neonicotinoid insecticides is a proportionate and necessary step to protect bees and other insect pollinators.</p>
<p>The government acknowledges that it must implement the European Commission ban in the UK, but its response highlights the work it will be doing ahead of the 2015 Europe-wide review of the environmental, agricultural and economic effects of the moratorium.</p>
<p>The government has also refused to introduce the monitoring scheme for insect pollinators recommended by the Committee.</p>
<p>Joan Walley MP, chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, said: "I am disappointed that the government has not accepted the great weight of scientific evidence that points to the need for the ban on these pesticides in line with the precautionary principle.</p>
<p>"The government acknowledges that it must implement the EU wide moratorium in the UK, but it is still refusing to acknowledge the case for a ban on these products being used in people’s gardens.</p>
<p>"There is no justification for people continuing to use these products on their Dahlias when they could be having a detrimental effect on pollinator populations. Suspending the sale of neonicotinoids for home use would create an urban safe haven for bees.</p>
<p>"The Committee will maintain its watching brief in the run-up to the 2015 review of the moratorium and will judge the available evidence on its merits; we hope that the Government will adopt a similar approach."</p>
<p><strong>Website:</strong> <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/news/pollinators-government-response/" target="_blank">Environmental Audit Committee: Government rejects case for ban on pesticides</a></p>
</div>Wildflowers sown across Bristol to encourage insect lifehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/wildflowers-sown-across-bristol-to-encourage-insect-life2013-08-13T12:08:28.000Z2013-08-13T12:08:28.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314130050?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314130050?profile=original" width="550" /></a>Cornflowers, poppies, buttercups and other wildflowers will be blooming across the city this summer as part of a three year, £1.3 million research project led by the University of Bristol.</p>
<p>University scientists are planting flower meadows in the city's parks, playing fields and schools in an attempt to improve the diversity and abundance of bees, flies and other pollinating insects.</p>
<p>The initiative is part of the <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/biology/research/ecological/community/pollinators" target="_blank">Urban Pollinators project</a>, led by the University of Bristol with academic partners at the Universities of Leeds, Reading and Edinburgh, which is examining how pollinating insects are affected by urbanization.</p>
<p>Last summer, the scientists successfully created flower meadows in several sites across the four cities in collaboration with local councils. These meadows are being re-sown this year, and a further five new meadows are being created in each city.</p>
<p>The scientists are sowing two different types of meadow: annual meadows containing a mix of native and non-native plant species which flower for one year, and perennial meadows which have only native species and are slower to establish. Flowers being planted include cornflowers, poppies, oxeye daisies, meadow buttercups and red campion.</p>
<p>As well as being beautiful to look at, the meadows provide pollen and nectar for pollinating insects and act as ‘wildlife corridors’, allowing insects and other invertebrates to thrive.</p>
<p>Professor Jane Memmott of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences who is leading the project, said: "Urban areas have the potential to support large numbers of insect pollinators. However, many cultivated plants do not provide suitable forage for them. Sowing meadows like these that contain nectar- and pollen-rich plant species increases the provision of foraging resources for bees and other pollinating insects in urban areas.</p>
<p>"Replacing traditionally planted areas with flower meadows can also have economic benefits as wildflowers are less expensive for councils to replace than cultivated plants."</p>
<p>As well as investigating how planting such meadows can improve conditions for insect pollinators, the scientists have also been quantifying these pollinators and their interactions with flowering plants in 180 different locations across the four cities, including parks, gardens, allotments, churchyards and cemeteries.</p>
<p>Dr Katherine Baldock of Bristol's School of Biological Sciences who is co-ordinating the project, said: "Simultaneously sampling a range of urban habitats in this way will enable us to compare the value of different types of urban habitats for insect pollinators and identify habitat ‘oases’ for pollinators in urban areas."</p>
</div>Bee hives in cities are a threat to bees themselveshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/bee-hives-in-cities-are-a-threat-to-bees-themselves2013-08-12T09:00:23.000Z2013-08-12T09:00:23.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p>It is feared that the increased popularity of urban bee hives is actually doing more harm than good.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/10235916/Rise-in-urban-beekeeping-a-threat-to-bees.html" target="_blank">The Telegraph</a> reports that the number of hives in London alone doubled from 1,677 to more than 3,500, in the five years from 2008 to 2013.</p>
<p>And while it might appear to be a good thing, Professor Francis Ratnieks, from the Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects at Sussex, says the garden feature may be causing problems.</p>
<p>The professor says that with more bees and other flower-visiting insects now competing for pollen then it could be just one of the reasons behind the <a href="http://www.landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/bad-winter-blamed-for-a-33-drop-in-honeybee-colonies-in-england" target="_blank">decline in bee numbers</a> which has been observed.</p>
<p>Instead of bee hives, people should simply plant more flowers to help increase the amount of pollen, be that a simple window box to planting up sections of a garden.</p>
</div>Bees under threat from disease-carrying bumblebee importshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/bees-under-threat-from-disease-carrying-bumblebee-imports2013-07-18T09:18:36.000Z2013-07-18T09:18:36.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314123186?profile=original"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314123186?profile=original" width="250" /></a>Stricter controls over bumblebee imports to the UK are urgently required to prevent diseases spreading to native bumblebees and honeybees, University of Sussex scientists have warned.</p>
<p>The call follows the discovery of parasites in over three-quarters of imported bumblebee colonies tested. The study – the first of its kind in the UK – is published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology.</p>
<p>While wild species of bees and other insects pollinate many crops, commercially-reared and imported bumblebees are essential for pollination of greenhouse crops such as tomatoes. They are also used to enhance pollination of other food crops such as strawberries, and are now marketed for use in people’s gardens.</p>
<p>The trade is large and widespread: 40-50,000 commercially-produced bumblebee colonies – each containing up to 100 worker bees – are imported annually to the UK, and more than one million colonies are sold each year worldwide.</p>
<p>The team of researchers from the University of Sussex and from the universities of Leeds and Stirling bought 48 colonies of buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) from three European producers. Some colonies were a subspecies native to the UK and others were non-native.</p>
<p>All were meant to be disease-free, but when they were tested using DNA technology, 77 per cent of the colonies were found to be carrying parasites. Parasites were also found in the pollen food supplied with the bees.</p>
<p>Screening revealed that the imported bumblebee colonies carried a range of parasites including the three main bumblebee parasites (Crithidia bombi, Nosema bombi and Apicystis bombi), three honeybee parasites (Nosema apis, Ascosphaera apis and Paenibacillus larvae), and two parasites which infect both bumblebees and honeybees (Nosema ceranae and deformed wing virus).</p>
<p>After the screening tests, the team conducted a series of carefully controlled laboratory experiments to find out whether the parasites carried by the commercially-produced bumblebee colonies were viable and able to infect other bees.</p>
<p>Lead author of the study, Peter Graystock of the University of Leeds explains: "We found that commercially-produced bumblebee colonies contained a variety of microbial parasites, which were infectious and harmful not only to other bumblebees, but also to honeybees."</p>
<p>The results suggest current regulations and protocols governing bumblebee imports are not effective. Currently, Natural England licences are only required for the non-native subspecies.</p>
<p>Although the licences require colonies to be disease free, colonies arriving in the UK are not screened to ensure compliance and the regulations do not apply to imports of the native subspecies.</p>
<p>The study argues that producers need to improve disease screening and develop a parasite-free diet for their bees, while regulatory authorities need to strengthen measures to prevent importation of parasite-carrying bumblebee colonies, including checking bees on arrival in the UK and extending regulations to cover imported colonies of the native subspecies.</p>
<p>As well as increasing the prevalence of parasites in wild bumblebees and managed honeybees near farms using the commercially-produced bumblebees, continuing to import bumblebee colonies that carry parasites is also likely to introduce new species or strains of parasites into some areas, the authors warn.</p>
<p>According to co-author of the study Professor William Hughes of the University of Sussex: "If we don’t act, then the risk is that potentially tens of thousands of parasite-carrying bumblebee colonies may be imported into the UK each year, and hundreds of thousands worldwide.</p>
<p>"Many bee species are already showing significant population declines due to multiple factors. The introduction of more or new parasite infections will at a minimum exacerbate this, and could quite possibly directly drive declines."</p>
<p>Although this is the first study of its kind in the UK, research in North America, South America and Japan suggests that parasites introduced by commercial bumblebees may be a major cause of population declines of several bumblebee species, including Bombus dahlbomii in Argentina, and Bombus terricola and Bombus pensylvanicus in North America.</p>
<p><strong>Website:</strong> <a href="http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lasi/index" target="_blank">Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI)</a></p>
</div>EU bans use of fipronil to better protect Europe’s beeshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/eu-bans-use-of-fipronil-to-better-protect-europe-s-bees2013-07-17T07:49:49.000Z2013-07-17T07:49:49.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p>The European Commission has banned the use of insecticide, fipronil, after fears about the damage it was doing to bees.</p>
<p>Widely used across Europe by farmers, fipronil will be banned from use on corn and sunflowers from the end of 2013, after member states <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-708_en.htm" target="_blank">overwhelmingly backed</a> the proposal in a vote.</p>
<p>Tonio Borg, European commissioner for health, said: "A few weeks ago, in the aftermath of the restriction on use of neonicotinoids, I pledged to do my utmost to protect Europe’s honey bee population and today’s agreement with member states, not only delivers on that pledge but marks another significant step in realising the Commission’s overall strategy to tackling Europe’s bee decline."</p>
<p>In the vote, the UK, Slovakia and the Czech Republic abstained and Spain, the biggest user of fipronil, and Romania voted against. The UK was also one of eight of the 27 EU member states that unsuccessfully opposed the EC neonicotinoid ban.</p>
<p>Fipronil is manufactured by the German chemical company BASF and they expressed <a href="http://www.basf.com/group/pressrelease/P-13-374" target="_blank">their disappointment</a> with the ruling.</p>
<p>"The decision regarding fipronil was derived from an assessment that focused heavily on new technical areas for which no established regulatory evaluation criteria are yet available," said Jürgen Oldeweme, of BASF Crop Protection.</p>
<p>"Moreover, sound data from field studies that underpin the safe use of our product for bees were not considered sufficiently. We are certain that Europe can achieve both – the protection of pollinators and the support of European agriculture – but for that all stakeholders must engage in a comprehensive action plan to address the real root causes of the decline in bee health."</p>
</div>Bad winter blamed for a 33% drop in honeybee colonies in Englandhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/bad-winter-blamed-for-a-33-drop-in-honeybee-colonies-in-england2013-06-13T09:25:51.000Z2013-06-13T09:25:51.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314101758?profile=original"><img width="250" class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314101758?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250" /></a>A third of all honey bee colonies were lost over the winter of 2012/2013 – more than double the losses of the previous year – with increased losses recorded in all regions of England.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.bbka.org.uk/" target="_blank">British Beekeepers Association</a> (BBKA) today announced the results of its latest annual winter survival survey which show that the number of honey bee colonies lost over the winter was more than double that of the previous year, with all regions in England showing increased losses.</p>
<p>On average 33.8 colonies in every 100 were lost compared with 16.2 in the winter of 2011/2012. The losses principally reflect the impact of the continual poor and changeable weather during 2012 continuing into 2013 and exacerbated by the late arrival of spring.</p>
<p>It is feared that the situation may have worsened since the survey closed at the end of March given the ongoing poor weather and the late arrival of spring.</p>
<p>The poor summer of 2012 meant that honey bees were regularly prevented from gathering pollen and foraging and when they could go out there was a general scarcity of pollen and nectar throughout the season.</p>
<p>Virgin queens were unable to mate properly leading them to become drone laying queens; causing those colonies affected to die-out.</p>
<p><strong>Winter losses of honey bee colonies in England over last six years</strong></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314105141?profile=original"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314105141?profile=original" width="600" /></a></p>
</div>Fipronil named as fourth insecticide to pose risk to honeybeeshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/fipronil-named-as-fourth-insecticide-to-pose-risk-to-honeybees2013-05-29T12:18:45.000Z2013-05-29T12:18:45.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p>A widely used insect nerve agent has been labelled a "high acute risk" to honeybees by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). A similar assessment by the EFSA on three other insecticides preceded the suspension of their use in the European Union.</p>
<p>"The insecticide fipronil poses a high acute risk to honeybees when used as a seed treatment for maize," the <a href="http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/130527.htm" target="_blank">EFSA said in a statement</a>. "EFSA was asked to perform a risk assessment of fipronil [by the European commission], paying particular regard to the acute and chronic effects on colony survival and development and the effects of sub-lethal doses on bee mortality and behaviour."</p>
<p>Fipronil, manufactured by the German chemical company BASF, is used in more than 70 countries and on more than 100 different crops, as well as for cockroach and termite control. The EFSA report found the risk to honeybees from drifting pesticide dust was high when fipronil was used as a seed treatment for maize, but did not have the data to assess the risk from its use on sunflowers, or the risk via pollen and nectar, or the risk to other bees and pollinators.</p>
<p>Read the full article at <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/may/28/fipronil-fourth-insecticide-risk-honeybees" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
</div>Pressure grows over crop chemicals suspected in bee-deathshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/pressure-grows-over-crop-chemicals-suspected-in-bee-deaths2013-04-17T13:38:29.000Z2013-04-17T13:38:29.000ZCraig McGintyhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/CraigMcGinty<div><p>Bayer AG and Syngenta AG face more pressure over crop chemicals suspected in bee-deaths as retailers including Sainsbury's, the UK’s third largest supermarket chain, said they’re looking into the matter.</p>
<p>“At present we have not banned the use of neonicotinoids in plant protection products but we are monitoring the situation very closely,” a Sainsbury’s spokesman said yesterday by e- mail.</p>
<p>Retailer Marks & Spencer is reviewing its position on the pesticides and will announce an update in about a month, a spokesperson said yesterday. Tesco, the U.K.’s biggest grocer, will be guided by government advice, a spokesperson said.</p>
<p><strong>More: </strong><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-17/bayer-syngenta-feel-heat-as-u-k-grocers-review-insecticides.html" target="_blank">Bayer, Syngenta feel heat as UK grocers review insecticides</a></p>
</div>Bees In Paris - Get seeding with Clover - trèfles pour Parishttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/bees-in-paris-get-seeding2010-10-02T15:00:00.000Z2010-10-02T15:00:00.000ZPaysage Durablehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/PaysageDurable<div>The wealth of publicity and funding towards ensuring the bee population of Paris is not only maintained but increased is rarely seen on many environmental campaigns. It has struck a chord with the population not least as it is combined with the distressing international statistics of falling bee populations.As always designers and architects lead the way, whilst they were invited to do so, yet many professional apiculturalists, landscapers and horticulturalists as well scientists specialising in this are of study were not consulted as much as they could have been.The result is that there appears to be a real problem in the overall statement of the various projects which are ongoing, namely -the floral displays of Paris provide a huge resource for bee populations and as such many new hives can be introduced to allow further growth of a Paris based honey industry which also protects and helps maintain bee populations.The amount of urban tree planting in Paris is considerable and would rival any other equivalent city in the world. When these trees in turn flower there is a vast resource of pollen, but often limited to a short space of time. In between these flowering periods, the floral displays are no where near sufficient for the bee populations and are much better suited for Solitary Bees, of which little is being done to protect or increase homes for.As an aside an incredibly easy and quick trick to help provide conditions for Solitary bees: upturn a clay pot (s) into the edge of your lawn or planting beds. A few stones inside the bottom, with the drainage hole of the pot in line with the top of your soil.Most soils in Paris are poor alluvial soils, often with a sub strata compacted layer which has seen considerable amounts of potash added. Historically outside the Peripherique the landscape was afforested and little industrial practice carried out. As such the top soil layers are minimal, but free from contaminants and require regular watering to allow for grass swaths or planting of any plants.To cope with both the Bee problem and the poor conditions for year round green cover, clover appears to be an essential plant to be established across Paris and its banlieue districts.''Clover stays green all summer with little or no watering. Clover is relatively drought-tolerant and it greens up early in spring and remains green until the first frost. In the South, it may remain green all winter.Clover requires little or no mowing. White clover grows just 50mm - 200mm tall and requires little or no mowing to keep it orderly. However, some homeowners may prefer to mow in midsummer in order to deadhead old blooms and neaten the appearance of the lawn, or to prevent blooming.Clover never needs fertiliser. Clover is a nitrogen-fixing legume, a plant that essentially creates its own fertiliser... and fertilises nearby plants as well! Grass that is intermixed with clover will be healthier and greener with less effort than grass planted alone.Clover never needs herbicides. In fact, most herbicides kill clover. Fortunately...Clover out-competes other weeds. Anyone who has struggled to eradicate clover from a grass lawn can tell you how persistent it can be. Clover easily out-competes most other weeds and reduces the need for weeding or expensive herbicides.Clover grows well in poor soil. Clover tolerates a wide variety of soil conditions, including the poor-quality subsoil common around many new homes.Clover feels great on bare feet. Soft, lush, and cool, walking barefoot on a clover lawn is a luxurious treat.Clover's leaves and blossoms also have a mild, pleasant smell.Clover is immune to "dog patches." The urine of female dogs discolors lawn grasses. Clovers stays as green and lush as ever.Clover is inexpensive. Clover seed is extremely inexpensive. Average cost is about £6.50 / 7.20Euros per 1000 square metres. Homeowners who have been fighting clover as a weed get it for free, if they decide to stop fighting and let it grow''. (Adapted from <a rel="nofollow" href="http://hubpages.com/hub/Clover-Lawns" target="_blank">http://hubpages.com/hub/Clover-Lawns</a>)<a rel="nofollow" href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%C3%A8fle" target="_blank"></a><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314142153?profile=original" alt=""/></p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.paysagedurable.com" target="_blank">Paysage Durable</a></div>Beeshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/6660693_BlogPost_273782010-06-24T09:30:00.000Z2010-06-24T09:30:00.000ZLara Hurleyhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LaraHurley<div>I've been counting different species of bees in my garden - I have a Buddleia 'Globosa' and it's very popular. So far I've seen six different species, mainly solitary bees and very few honey bees. There have been many snippets in the news about the decline in bees species and I'm in the process of writing a couple of pieces about this. I love bees, my Mum started it with her emergency bee rescue service, resuscitating collapsed bees with teaspoons of honey. I still do this too if I find a struggling bumble on the garden path, much to most peoples' amusement...Any other bee-lievers out there?</div>