On 22/04/2013 09:37, Martin wrote:
On Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:37:35 +0100, Jeff Layman
wrote:

On 21/04/2013 19:41, Pete C wrote:
'If' I've heard right, something called neonicotinoids (sp) are to be
banned. Does anyone know what products will disappear from garden centre
shelves?

This was covered in some detail on yesterday's "Countryfile" (available
on BBC iPlayer).

Which made no reference to this
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/18339797

nor this
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/...th.htm?wtrl=01
"No single cause of declining bee numbers has been identified.
However, several contributing factors have been suggested, acting in
combination or separately. These include the effects of intensive
agriculture and pesticide use, starvation and poor bee nutrition,
viruses, attacks by pathogens and invasive species – such as the
Varroa mite (Varroa destructor), the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina),
the small hive beetle Aethina tumida and the bee mite Tropilaelaps –
genetically modified plants, and environmental changes (e.g. habitat
fragmentation and loss)."

True, but I don't think that the programme was considering
neonicotinoids as the sole cause of the decline in bees, just what part
they might (or might not) be playing.

I'm afraid that I only got as far as the second paragraph in the EFSA
article. Firstly, it states "The Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations (FAO) estimates that of the 100 crop species that
provide 90% of food worldwide, 71 are pollinated by bees[1].".
"Estimates"? Surely it should be "estimated" as that FAO statement was
made in December 2005. Secondly, that FAO statement seems designed to
mislead. What it doesn't emphasise is that the 29 crop species which
aren't pollinated by bees include the vast majority of the world's
staple foods. In particular the cereals such as wheat, rice, and corn
are all wind pollinated.

--

Jeff