On Mon, 15 Mar 2004 11:49:11 +0000, Pearson Reid
wrote:

I have to declare my interest, I am both a gardener, of sorts, and a
bee keeper. I expect that some of you will, from time to time, use
chemical pesticides on your plants. If you do then I would like to
draw your attention to a problem created by one in particular. To
those of you who don't may I seek information from you on
environmentally friendly alternatives which you have used to control
pests.

One chemical has been in the news lately, imidacloprid. Its effect on
bees is to cause them to lose their sense of direction and to become
lost. This chemical is marketed under a variety of brand names and is
licensed for use on several plants in the UK. Restrictions are placed
on its use when the plant is in flower and when spraying on leaves.
The chemical is slowly released inside the plant. I suspect that the
chemical is to be found in high concentration in both the nectar and
pollen of treated plants. Bees thus get a double dose. But I have to
admit that to my knowledge no studies have been carried out into this
so I may well be in error. In south-west France where the chemical is
used differently from the UK honey production has fallen by 60%. The
number of Registered hives in France is reputed to have fallen by one
third.

I have to say I have noticed no problems here with it, and my apiary
is no more than 60 metres away from the areas where we use it
(according to the instructions) Most of what we use is under glass
though and on a small outdoor area of container plants. FWIW the last
3 years have been amongst my best bee years. We are trying to use
nematodes more on the ornamentals as we always have on food crops.
Rod

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