ON Saturday at its AGM the Scottish Bee-keepers Association (SBA) failed to pass a motion calling on it to petition the Scottish Government to invoke a moratorium on neonicotinoid pesticides (the vote was 31 for, 34 against, with five abstentions).
Following that endorsement for neonicotinoids from the organisation that claims to champion bees and to campaign tirelessly for bee health, I can imagine that pharmaceutical companies Bayer and Syngenta will be very happy. I can imagine them using this information to good effect in their arguments against restrictions in their use, pointing out that the Scottish beekeepers, many of whom depend on oil-seed rape for a good honey crop, see no need to restrict or limit them in any way.
Some beekeepers will find it ironic that, whereas nearly all the conservation organisations and even some producers are calling for, or putting into effect themselves at least a partial ban or a moratorium, the main bee-keeping association continues to claim that there is no adequate proof that neonicotinoids are harmful to bees. The association, while questioning the validity of studies that show harm to bees, seems to be entirely happy with Bayer's studies that claim that neoinicotinoids are not harmful to bees.
What will alarm many bee-keepers is that the SBA represents the interests of bees to the Scottish Government and to various European bodies, and will carry this message to them.
Clare Darlaston,
Beekeeper,
287 Onslow Drive,
Dennistoun,
Glasgow.
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