Bees and forests!!!!!!

i heard a bit about this - couldnt they be made to sell off the house of commons garden first and if they do sell the forests they should be giving us the money - in my mind they are not theirs to sell!

agreed Stickitoffee~ every other country looks after it's forests we have the lowest percentage in Europe!!!

Just thought I would add the web addresses for the above campaigns.

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees/?vl

Just thought it would make it easier for people to sign the petitions.

I have signed both.

Does the pesticide have a UK trade name,is it a domesic or trade product

see below article from the independent 20th Jan
*

New Doubts Raised About Potential Bee-Killing Pesticide
Wired News (blog) - Brandon Keim - ‎19 hours ago‎
Pesticide-dosed bees proved especially vulnerable to infection. Imidacloprid is manufactured by German agrochemical Bayer, who also manufacture clothianidin ..
Exclusive:
Exclusive: Bees facing a poisoned spring

New kind of pesticide, widely used in UK, may be helping to kill off the world's honeybees

By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor

Thursday, 20 January 2011

*

A bee collecting pollen hovers above a golden rape bloom

AFP

A new generation of pesticides is making honeybees far more susceptible to disease, even at tiny doses, and may be a clue to the mysterious colony collapse disorder that has devastated bees across the world, the US government's leading bee researcher has found. Yet the discovery has remained unpublished for nearly two years since it was made by the US Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory.

The release of such a finding from the American government's own bee lab would put a major question mark over the use of neonicotinoid insecticides – relatively new compounds which mimic the insect-killing properties of nicotine, and which are increasingly used on crops in the US, Britain and around the world.

Bayer, the German chemicals giant which developed the insecticides and makes most of them, insists that they are safe for bees if used properly, but they have already been widely linked to bee mortality. The US findings raise questions about the substance used in the bee lab's experiment, imidacloprid, which was Bayer's top-selling insecticide in 2009, earning the company £510m. The worry is that neonicotinoids, which are neurotoxins – that is, they attack the central nervous system – are also "systemic", meaning they are taken up into every part of the plant which is treated with them, including the pollen and nectar. This means that bees and other pollinating insects can absorb them and carry them back to their hives or nests – even if they are not the insecticide's target species..

just sickning, iv signed already, i dare not say what i think, bleep bleep bleep

We can only hope that signing the petitions will make a difference .. ...

if you write to your MP as well it will definitely help~
anything will do...
Dear sir
in the light of severe problems with our honey bees and ultimately food production~ please advise me how you will be voting on the motion by Mr Martin Caton on banning pesticides containing Imidacloprid?
A concerned voter

So sad Arlene. We can only support the campaign which I've done.

I said about the pesticides here ages ago about it making the bees forget how to get back to their nests and I was accused of scare mongering to which I had to delete my blog on it, as it also causes Alzimas too also Autisium, a usa top lady states, it is sprayed on the wheat etc and the bee does nt even have to take any thing from the crops just landing does it and it can't remember how to get back to the nest a lot of farmers in the usa have their crops sprayed. I found all this out by the Americans themselves on a chat room. They said its the company that owns Round up its in that too.

Hi Sixpence
see this article below

The House of Commons is to debate the impact on bees and other insects of the new generation of pesticides that has been linked to bee mortality in several countries.

The Government will be called on to suspend all neonicotinoid pesticides approved in Britain, pending more exhaustive tests of their long-term effects on bees and other invertebrates. The subject will be raised in an adjournment debate in the Commons next Tuesday on a motion tabled by Martin Caton, the Labour MP for Gower.

Although the chemicals have been banned in several countries, including France, Germany and Italy, and the Co-op has prohibited their use in farms in Britain from which it sources fruit and vegetables, the British Government has refused calls for them to be suspended as a precaution. The food and farming minister, Jim Paice, will respond for the Government.
Related articles

* Pesticide linked to bee deaths should be suspended, MPs told
* Exclusive: Bees facing a poisoned spring
* Michael McCarthy: This isn't just about bees – it affects everything
* Search the news archive for more stories

Mr Caton, himself a former agricultural scientist, said yesterday that the evidence was growing that they were a problem, and that the testing regime for the compounds in Britain and Europe was not rigorous enough. "I think they should be suspended on the precautionary principle while we improve it," he said.

As detailed in The Independent yesterday, the compounds, which imitate the action of nicotine, the natural insecticide substance found in tobacco, are arousing increasing concern among environmentalists and beekeepers because they are "systemic" – they enter every part of a treated plant, including the pollen and nectar. There, bees and other pollinating insects can pick them up, even if they are not the "target" species for which the pesticide is intended.

A study by the US government's leading bee researcher, backed by research in France, indicates even microscopic doses of neonicotinoids may make bees more vulnerable to disease. The study by the US Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory has remained unpublished for nearly two years, but is now being prepared for publication.

Neonicotinoid pesticides, developed and mostly made by the German chemical giant Bayer, are increasingly used around the world. In Britain, the area of cropland treated with them has gone from nothing in 1993 to more than 2.5m acres in 2008, the last year for which figures are available.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said yesterday: "The UK has a robust system for assessing risks from pesticides, and all the evidence shows neonicotinoids do not pose an unacceptable risk when products are used correctly. However, we will not hesitate to act if presented with any new evidence."

Mr Caton has also put down an Early Day Motion in the Commons referring to a recent controversy in the US concerning one of Bayer's latest neonicotinoids, clothianidin. The motion says that the House is "gravely concerned by the contents of a recently leaked memo from the the US Environment Protection Agency, whose scientists warn that bees and other non-target invertebrates are at risk from a new neonicotinoid pesticide, and that tests in the US approval process are insufficient to detect the environmental damage caused."

It goes on: "[This house] acknowledges that these findings reflect the conclusions of a 2009 Buglife report that identified similar inadequacies in the European approval regime with regard to neonicotinoids; notes reports that bee populations have soared in four European countries that have banned these chemicals; and therefore calls on the Government to act urgently to suspend all existing approvals for products containing neonicotinoids... pending more exhaustive tests and the development of international methodologies for properly assessing the long-term effects of systemic pesticides on invertebrate populations."

Mr Caton said: "We're talking about a threat to our whole ecosystem, when invertebrates are being lost at the sort of rate that has happened in recent years."

The reason they would nt do any thing about the bees dieing Arlene I got told by the Americans on chat room was because they won't need them, as they want us to have gm foods which then bees would nt be needed.

Talking to my son about it ages ago my grandson who is now in college stated at shcool said all seeds are now gm so we are growing gm foods even in our gardens.

Even if Round Up is used in garden it can wipe a coloney out can pass it on to other bees the Americans said. Big coporations don't like to lose money do they they will lie through their teeth, like the 4 usa big corporations did months before 911 making out they made big profits when actually they had big loses.!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_XnvZAcM0U&feature=related

There is another sequal to this part 2, this is what the usa sent to me the link also would explain those red wing birds and fish dieing in their thousands falling out of the sky recently.

Hi BJS - bee-killing pesticides have stupid names like Gaucho and Poncho.....But even products we use in the garden sometimes include these and other very dangerous chemicals - to bees, wildife and to us. Monsanto's Roundup for instance. The problem is - not only do they kill beneficial insects, they kill off anything that eats them, so you have a chain reaction ...

The only way to avoid these dangers is to garden organically....Even commercially produced seeds can have pesticides dressings. So if you're planting for bees and wildlife - plant organic. Stormy Hall Demeter biodynamic seeds are the safest of the safe!

latest news
SELLING off Britain's forests could cost more than the benefits it produces, according to a Government assessment.

The total cost for leasing large-scale commercial sites to the private sector, which would cover Kielder, has been put at £678.6m.

That compares with total benefit of £655.5m over a 20-year period, according to the impact assessment by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Costs include fees to land agents and the Government paying to ensure public "good provision", and loss of income from timber and recreation.

But that is only a "partial estimate", with the document revealing the Government has not fully assessed the impact of any mass sell-off.

Costs not yet assessed include redundancies and further professional fees.

But the assessment insists there is "potential" to attract new investment, cut costs and increase profits resulting in a positive outcome.

In terms of open market sale of large-scale commercial sites, the total cost is estimated at £820.5m with the overall benefit being £808.5m.

But there is a warning that buyers may be unwilling to continue "favourable" contract terms with local processors, hitting the rural economy.

Selling and/or leasing to community groups could cost £234.1m compared with a £231.9m benefit.

The benefit of transferring large "heritage" woodland to charities has been estimated at £495.9m. But the total cost could be £507.9m

The assessment says there is a risk of "uncertain" long-term costs for the Government, with charities needing "adequate incentives" to take on land, management and staff.

Speaking to The Journal, Shadow Environment Secretary Mary Creagh said: "The devil is in the detail with these proposals.

"Defra's own impact assessment reveals that every single option that the Government is considering will cost more to the public than it raises in revenue.

"This proves that this is economic as well as environmental madness."

Read More http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/breaking-news/2011/02/01/forest-sell-off-could-cost-more-than-benefits-72703-28094185/#ixzz1Cj8HVaPK

Makes you wonder if they can't work their sums out with the forest how can they the country. If they are bought up by charities, what stops them selling them off to corporations which could fell the forests and build factories, or any thing, would it end up lile kansas usa being evacuated and bull dozed through poisons, lets face it look how they have conned us in the past.

As for the above your concerned about the pesticides, yes and we are eating the foods. Also what about our drinking water which has floride in which 85 per cent of the EU will not have also banned to have , and refuse any food products from our country or any other that contains our tap water with floride added. Also our water bottles which also our milk is contained in plastic bottle which causes cancer for men also woman, also fruit jucies too. As toxins are released into the drinks from the plastic especially if left in a car warmed.
http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/health/444753/harmful-chemicals-found-in-fruit-juice-drinks.html