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North West Euro-MP Buzzing To Put Bees First
A North West Euro-MP has used his first question of the new term at the European Parliament to highlight the plight of British bees.
In the last two years bee numbers have declined by 15-30% and the Government recently announced funding of around £2 million this year to study the decline.
Liberal Democrat Chris Davies MEP wants the European Commission to consider banning a class of insecticides called neonicotinoids that are used to protect plants from insects. Neonicotinoid use has been linked to bees dying which has led to its use being severely restricted in both France and Germany.
Davies said, "The Commission needs to consider a ban on these chemicals before the bee decline starts showing up in food shortages. Better to take action now as a precaution than risk the destruction of bee colonies because we left it too late.
"Protecting the environment isn't just about the big visible changes like the melting ice in Greenland or the pollution in our atmosphere, it's also about protecting the tiny creatures who keep our plants growing and our world running. Insects may be unloved by some people but they are indispensible to our way of life."
Bees are believed to contribute £120 million per year in direct economic benefits to Britain by pollinating commercial crops. Without bees, many food crops would die out completely as plants such as watermelons, brazil nuts and vanilla cannot reproduce without the help of bees. About a third of the food we eat comes from plants pollinated partly or exclusively by bees.
In recent years scientists have been trying to discover the reasons why bees have been disappearing in large numbers. Many studies currently focus on the varroa mite, a parasite of bees that weakens colonies by feeding on the bees themselves. Neonicotinoids are less studied despite evidence from Germany and France in particular that they can cause bee colony numbers to collapse.
Text of Question from Chris Davies MEP to the European Commission
The Soil Association in the UK claims that there is strong evidence that the class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids may be responsible for the loss in bee colonies that has occurred in recent years. It believes that the chemicals affect the central nervous system of bees and impair their immune systems, their homing and foraging abilities, flight activity, and ability to discriminate by smell.
The suggestion is that the cumulative effect of very small doses of nenoicotinoids may affect the ability of bees to work and communicate effectively within their colonies. It is said that for these reasons use of the chemical has been banned or suspended in France, Germany, Italy and Slovenia.
Will the Commission state what action it is taking to verify the claims made, and, taking regard of the precautionary principle, whether as a matter of urgency it is ready to introduce measures intended to safeguard the future of bee colonies across Europe?
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