A Belgian start-up is analysing pollen samples to monitor bees’ environments, a Quebecois innovation is tapping AI tech to ‘give bees a voice’, and dairy farmers in the UK and Sweden are creating insect-friendly ecosystems to promote biodiversity.
Pesticides used on crops and in orchards directly harm wild bees, while fungicides labelled as ‘safe for bees’ may also indirectly threaten native pollinators, say researchers.
An international team of scientists have called for an 'evidence-driven debate' on the links between neonicotinoids and pollinator bee deaths, as they publish a 'restatement' of the scientific evidence.
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) – an NGO that monitors lobbying activities – has accused Syngenta and Bayer of ‘furious lobbying’ against a European proposal to suspend use of three neonicotinoid insecticides in order to protect bees.
Bayer CropScience has defended the use of neonicotinoid insecticides following a report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) identifying three such substances as potentially risky to bees.
An EFSA-funded report on bee mortality has concluded that the poor quality of surveillance systems in Europe makes it hard to even assess the rate of colony loss.
The Soil Association has criticised Hilary Benn’s decision not to ban pesticides believed to damage honey bees’ neurological and immune systems while millions are invested in trying to halt honey bee decline.
Latest UK efforts to halt honey bee decline aim to stimulate more communication on reporting health problems in hives, as disappearing pollinators could have a serious effect on food supply and ingredient sourcing.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is launching a 9-month project to investigate the causes of honey bee ‘colony collapse disorder’, and is encouraging all parties to share any data on the problem.
A worrying decline in the US bee population over the last few years
could have a major impact on companies who rely on honey bees to
pollinate plants that are widely used as ingredients.