Great news for the bees

I dont profess to understand all that but I'm convinced there is more to it than just pesticides.

There are so many other insects that are just not around like they were, and I cant believe its just down to the fact of pesticides, many of which are becoming more specific to one type of pest, rather than a kill all approach.

Sure, we would all like to get away with out using them, but some pests are so out of hand its hardly worth growing some plants.

From a farming rather than home growing perspective its likely we will go down the same "green" road that we are with climate change.

Ban everything here and import it from abroad where they still use, or do, what we have banned, its stupidity and we are kidding ourselves its better for the enviroment.

 

There are some very nasty Gas's which are use to kill bugs, which if used they have to be vented which means that after it done it bit the doors are opened to let out the remainder of the gas so humans can then go inside

 

Like those greenhouse thingies.

 

One might think that CO2 would be sufficient simply by excluding oxygen. It is what is used for larger creatures and as we all know, carbon is not a threat to life in low concentrations, it is what most life is built upon.

 

hi Pete ,

the new pesticides stay in the plant much longer, this goes in to the pollen, nectar, leaves roots which the insects feed on … years ago say 50s,60s, 70s it was sprayed on and normally the rain would quickly wash it away .. but I have to agree where have the insects all gone.
I have said before but I rarely see any beetles in my garden even ladybirds were hard to find last year.

Spruce

 

I think the word is systemic, but one spraying with a systemic will probably avoid half a dozen sprayings with non systemics.

 

Ahhh that’s the word lol

 

Depends on the pesticide, acetamiprid which is legal for example is supposed to degrade fairly rapidly, but is also toxic at very low doses. Papers I found had wildly different degradation rates within the plant even (10 days vs 100 days), and considering its a systemic they use on crops theres some chance we are eating a fair amount of it. Who knows. Maybe it could run off into sewage? Perhaps river pollution also contributes, I know many bugs start life in water.

I suspect climate change is underestimated as a cause but then we should see populations bounce back in more classic climate years. Many causes at once?

Hopefully they discover the cause of this insect apocalypse before its permanent. To some extent id expect to see certain pest insects doing better as a result of a general decline as base predator populations fall so everyone has an incentive to keep the ecosystem happier.

 

Slightly off track,
I always hear the old story of, we need a hard winter to kill off the pests, to my mind a hard winter kills off even more predators, I dont think anything is that simple.

Equally, how do plants/insects survive in warmer countries that dont have hard winters, its all bunkum and plants and insects adapt to changing weather conditions and have done for thousands of years.

 

How about the flea tick treatment they use on cats dogs and some birds .. when a dog goes in a river or a pond it kills lots on the insects etc

 

I think the concentration would be negligible, but these are systemic so who knows what they do to the animal.

 

those are often acetamiprid though pyrethroids are more common

 

I have posted this before but it's something I think everyone should watch once. It is an interview with Prof Dave Goulson, a bee and insect expert and some of the statistics are absolutely shocking. It's been a couple of years since I watched it but I'm sure they found 27 different pesticides on one orange and that the average field uses enough pesticides each year to kill every honey bee in Europe three times.

 

Further to my previous posts above, more detail upon the beet yellows virus; and other means of control. Most likely is by all- crop spraying with aphid killing spray, 3 applications through the season. This is applied across the entire planted area, although beet are sown at 21"row spacings, and will kill many beneficial insects, ground beetles and ladybirds as well. There is an additional cost to such treatment, in both chemical and fuel, time of labour which will remove much of the marginal returns from a nationally dictated contract price.
Sugar beet is grown only within a confined area around (15 miles?) beet factories due to costs of haulage .It will not affect insects beyond the planted area.
As the perception of insect loss is deemed universal.
I think more attention is due to other factors within the environment.

Virus Yellows - Sugarbeet - Products - Home- KWS UK Ltd.

 

They arent the only crops being sprayed though, but yeah youd expect it to be relatively local. Thanks for the information.