Call for research into pesticides implicated in deaths of honeybees

The Co-operative wants research into impact of neonicotinoid group of pesticides as UK premieres film Vanishing of the Bees
Alison Benjamin
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 October 2009 00.05 BST
Campaigners today called on the government to commission research into pesticides that have been implicated in the death of billions of honeybees worldwide.
The Co-Operative wants the government to fund research into the impact of the neonicotinoid group of pesticides which the company has prohibited on its farms until it is proved they do not harm honeybees.
The call comes on the day of the UK premiere of the film Vanishing of the Bees, which explores the mysterious disappearance of honeybee colonies which are a vital pollinator of crops.
A number of culprits including parasitic mites, viruses, lack of nutritious food sources and pesticides have been blamed for the dramatic declines in honeybees. In the US more than a third have been wiped out each year since 2006/07, and close on a third perished in the UK last year.
Paul Monaghan, head of social goals at the Co-Op, said: "Neonicotinoids has been linked to honeybee declines elsewhere in Europe and that is why they have been restricted in Germany, France, Italy and Slovenia. However, very little independent research into their effects on bees has been carried out in the UK."
Earlier this year the government along with other funders, including the Wellcome Trust, put aside £10m to be used on pollinator research, but none of the money has been directed at the effects of pesticides. In June an influential committee of MPs warned that government risked diluting research into the problem.
"We want the government to carry out a systematic review of the impact these pesticides are having on the wellbeing of honeybees," said Monaghan.
Until this happens, the Co-Op has awarded £100,000 of its own money to a UK university, that it is unwilling to name, to carry out an independent review.
Wildlife charity Buglife, together with the Soil Association and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, has called for a temporary ban on neonicotinoids and for a review to assess their harm to pollinators following its recent review of current research which showed that the pesticides may damage populations of bees.
But the government insists there is no evidence that the pesticides "pose an unacceptable risk to the health of bees". A Defra spokesman said that a key part of the authorisation process for pesticides was an assessment of risks to foraging bees and bee hives. Studies conducted in the field monitor the impacts on honeybees confined to tents and exposed to flowering crops of maize, oilseed rape and sunflowers grown from seed treated with pesticides in excess of the UK approved application rate. No significant differences in bee behaviour or mortality were reported in treated and untreated crops, he said.
Matt Shardlow, chief executive of Buglife , said its research questioned the approval process. New rules to limit the use of pesticides were last week passed by EU ministers, which could remove up to a fifth of currently approved pesticides from the market. The UK government, which voted against the regulation, said it is unlikely these will include neonicotinoids.