Bees just got a helping hand from the European Union who banned outdoor use of harmful pesticides.
With several types of bees and bumblebees on the endangered-species list, some governments are starting to do their part to protect the lives of these essential pollinators.
The European Union voted Friday to ban outdoor use of pesticides that harms bees. Specifically, there's now a complete ban on three substances referred to as neonicotinoids -- imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam. Scientific studies have shown that these substances can harm bees when used outside.
Also at EU Times.
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On the night of April 26th, an unknown person or persons destroyed beehives that were home to over half a million bees in Alvin, Texas.
With the advent of Colony Collapse Disorder early this millennium, and the resulting drops in bee populations across the USA, Europe, and Asia, people and organizations have been making efforts to house, protect and nurture honeybee populations for the sake of their crops, the good of the environment, or as a service to humanity at large.
Use of the land for the bees destroyed was donated by a private citizen and the location is visible to the road so passers by can watch and enjoy the bee keepers working with the bees.
Then we get people that do things like this:
Over the weekend, someone set fire to two dozen bee colonies in Alvin, Texas belonging to the Brazoria County Beekeepers Association. The perpetrator also dumped some of the bee boxes into a nearby pond.
According to one of the beekeepers:
I broke down in tears when I saw a floating brood frame in the water with bees still caring for the brood.
It is expected that the perpetrators were very likely stung and the community is on the lookout for individuals with bee stings.
Perhaps more remarkably, this is not a completely new idea. Multiple Facebook comments speak of past attacks on bees elsewhere attributed to teenagers and rival bee keepers.
We've already seen bees persevering through fire and smoke, according to beekeepers the surviving bees are stressed and many will have lost their queens, but is also possible some hives will survive.
Previous coverage of Bee troubles:
Some Honeybee Colonies Adapt in Wake of Deadly Mites
Backyard Beekeeping Now Legal in Los Angeles
Honeybees Pick Up 'Astonishing' Number of Pesticides Via Non-crop Plants
Bees Dead from Aerial Zika Spraying in South Carolina
Pesticide Companies' Own Secret Tests Showed Their Products Harm Bees
Extensive Study Concludes Neonicotinoid Pesticides Harm Bees
EU Bans Outdoor Use of Pesticides That Harm Bees
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 29 2018, @05:14AM (5 children)
Tech innovation will solve everything. Swarms of micro drones controlled by AI will replace the bees. Blockchain will ensure accountability. We don't need the bees in 2018.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Sunday April 29 2018, @05:53AM (4 children)
You forgot the sarcasm tags. Or, maybe you forgot to sign your post? Should it be - Monsanto?
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 29 2018, @05:58AM (3 children)
What's the matter, old man? All your stock in beehives is plummeting? Or maybe you fancy yourself a beekeeper? You've been disrupted by hip young startup founders?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday April 29 2018, @07:59AM (2 children)
Nahhh, I just enjoy good food. Definitions of "good food" vary, of course, so maybe I should just say that I enjoy food. Most people do. If they don't get food pretty regularly, they tend to wither up and fade.
If the bees die off, and half or more of our agricultural products disappear, your meals will grow a lot less interesting. I have an idea. Why don't you look up "nonflowering food plants" on Google or some other search engine. Odd - I'm not getting any direct hits! There really ought to be some. Native Americans had a liking for some pine nuts. There are others, but not a whole heckuva lot. Almost all of our food crops come from FLOWERING PLANTS!
Now, GP suggests that we should kill off all of the free labor that works so very hard to pollinate our food, and replace it with robotic labor. Hmmm. Interesting idea. Robots. All under the control of some shady corporation, like Monsanto maybe? Oh yeah, Monsanto has verbalized the desire to control the world's food supply many times in past decades. They've demonstrated that desire many times. Look to Iraq - food crops that they have grown since before there was a British Empire are now claimed by Monsanto, and the farmers have to PAY for the privilege of raising their crops.
Monsanto would be in a position to out perform Stalin's imposed famines in the old Soviet. Some nation gets out of line, and absolutely no flowering plant crops will pollinate. None. The robots simply appear to be dead. And, since we've killed off the bees, the only method remaining is for individuals to get out in the fields with tiny little brushes, and daub the flowers. Little bitty brushes that resemble a bee's legs and hairy abdoment.
I do like food, but I don't know about stroking the sex organs of all those flowering plants for several hours each day. You may not think that's creepy, but it seems that way to me.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday April 29 2018, @01:18PM (1 child)
Wow: very futuristic and Orwellian, but well thought out!
Yeah, they should NEVER have allowed the mergers of Monsanto and Bayer. The world needs INCREASED competition, not less.
Monsanto is EVILCORP.
I'm glad they are doing this ban, but now Monsanto will sue the EU (another thing that should NEVER BE ALLOWED: corporations suing governments? Bullshit!)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 29 2018, @06:25PM
corporations suing governments? it should be allowed but only in national tribunals, keep the supranationale tribunals like the OMC commerce court to settles dispute between countries not Corp vs peoples
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 29 2018, @06:14AM (10 children)
#ftag=CAD590a51e in the Cnet URL doesn't appear to do anything useful.
It looks like some kind of tracking something.
#rbContent [cnet.com] is a #FragmentIdentifier that I find useful at that site.
.
Next, TFA doesn't mention USA or Trump and how stupid we|his people are in this regard.
Other coverage [eutimes.net] included
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday April 29 2018, @06:20AM (3 children)
Changed. CNET is one of those sites that doesn't load article links if the right script(s) aren't enabled. It should probably be shitcanned from the bot for that reason alone.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday April 29 2018, @07:21AM (2 children)
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 29 2018, @09:14AM (1 child)
So can I--once I scroll down to where that starts.
With a proper #FragmentIdentifier, I wouldn't have to tire out my poor old scrollwheel finger. 8-)
...and the thing in the original link which appeared to be one, wasn't; it was just noise.
I've said before that when I submit, I try to index the linked page to where the good stuff is.
I know that at least 2 Soylentils have said they have severe problems with vision.
Having a screenreader prattle about a whole bunch of non-useful stuff seems like it would be monumentally irritating, so, when I am doing things, I try to avoid that.
Nothing major this time; it was simply done wrong--and in a useless way.
If we're going to use folks' bandwidth, let's at least make that something useful.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday April 29 2018, @09:22AM
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday April 29 2018, @07:24AM (3 children)
Of course not, it is not a story about the USA or Trump. This is a story about Europe. Sort your own problems out or, even better, make a submission about how the US is handling the problem.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 29 2018, @08:06AM (1 child)
It's Original Owner. He's a full-blown Commie. He doesn't want the US to solve any problems. If the US solved a problem, he would deny it. He would point to some cooperative in Biafra who solved the problem already, no matter that it wasn't even the same problem.
OO hates the USA, even more than he hates any economic theory that runs contrary to communism. OOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, progressivism!!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 29 2018, @09:22AM
I'll admit that the places where I saw the story were all Progressive in nature and -all- of them mentioned how USA's EPA was not only not moving in this positive direct, but was about to go farther in the wrong direction.
I found it odd that the story chosen did not stick out its tongue at USA.gov and give it a big Bronx cheer.
Pffffffft.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 29 2018, @09:36AM
I was in the process of submitting -this- story (with the criticism of USA.gov) when I found that a link supplied by the Center for Biological Diversity (perhaps altered by an intermediary) was a ridiculous mess.
It was getting late (for me) and I just said "Screw it."
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 30 2018, @12:58AM (1 child)
Talk to beekeepers and they will tell you what is up and exactly what is killing their livestock. It is mites. We do not have a good way to kill/control them other than formic acid. There is a possibility that the pesticides used are weaking the bees defense against them. The science unfortunately here is poor and 'we do not know'. Pulling the pesticides is a good 'try' but may or may not fix the actual issue. Which we do not know what it is. This is basically a shot in the dark.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 30 2018, @07:20PM
yeah, that's the point. it's weakening the bees to the point that something that was already dangerous for them is now wiping them out. assuming the bees can even find their way home after being gassed.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday April 29 2018, @08:06AM
His DEP, Department of Environmental, they were thinking about having a regulation for the neonics. And they were talking about it, and writing it. And then they saw that I was elected in a LANDSLIDE. They saw that so many of our farmers voted for me, that they had the privilege of voting for me. And they stopped the regulation, they said "why bother" -- I don't know what they said, I know they didn't do the regulation. So that was very nice, that was one thing that wasn't a DISASTER when I took office. One of the few things.
But I'm working hard for you, the American people, every day. And Syngenta, terrific company, they have a fabulous chemical. Funny name, thia- something, don't worry about the name, our great farmers have been using it on seeds. But Syngenta is telling us, hey, try it on the leaves, it's great on leaves. On the plants. They said, we have studies, look at the studies. Europe, they looked at the studies, maybe they didn't understand them. Or were just very foolish. Because they did a ban. Trust me, we're not Europe. We're going to give it a chance. @ScottPruittOK [twitter.com] is doing the legal for that. And it's going to be very environmental.
(Score: 3, Informative) by fritsd on Sunday April 29 2018, @11:09AM
I found a few more direct links:
The EU is very wishy-washy about neonicotinoids: in 2013 their use was limited but (thanks to Bayer I'm sure) they weren't forbidden yet, citing lack of direct evidence of harm to bees.
Then the EFSA, food safety organization, funded a new study, and their conclusion was reached in february 2018:
Neonicotinoids: risks to bees confirmed [europa.eu]
So that's the most relevant article about it. Then the ball was rolled back to the politicians, especially Juncker because
press release: (you'll have to scroll down or search for "Protecting bees")
Protecting bees: EU set to completely ban outdoor use of pesticides harmful to bees [europa.eu]
I'm not even sure if that's accurate but I'll continue to search.
Neonics page on the EC website:
Neonicotinoids [europa.eu]
doesn't say anything about a ban, so I think they still have to vote on it and put it into law. Watch this space :-) The press release summary said:
(when they're not on vacation for several months, of course)
It's not clear to me, on which commissioner's plate this issue landed. Maybe Jean-Claude Juncker [europa.eu] (president of the EC) or
Vytenis Andriukaitis [europa.eu] of Health and Food Safety
(Score: 2) by quietus on Sunday April 29 2018, @03:29PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 30 2018, @07:22PM
like i'm going to believe anything the splc says...