Chemicals

• According to FERA, pesticide usage has risen by 50% in the last 20 years. Their figures indicate that the equivalent of every single hectare of land in the UK has pesticides applied 3 times each year. Some of these pesticides have a half-life in the soil of 19 years.
• Maryann Frazier's work at Penn State showed that if a single insecticide was fed to bees - it had a certain LD50 (dose at which 50% of the bees died).
  She found that the addition of just ONE extra fungicide or insecticide, increased the lethality of the combined pesticides by a factor of over 100 TIMES. Three pesticides added together had a toxic lethality of up to ONE THOUSAND TIMES that of a single insecticide.
• Beekeepers are using various chemicals to combat imported pests. These chemicals, along with pesticides are accumulating in the beeswax in colonies, to the detriment of bee health.
• Neonicitinoid pesticides, banned in some countries, continue to be used in the UK. There is a mounting body of evidence to demonstrate that these pesticides negatively impact the health of bees, but decision makers believe more research is required. If so, it needs to be done urgently.

Bees Before Profit wish to add to the growing evidence against various pesticides. Research is also planned to investigate more natural and sustainable ways of combating imported pests. We will make our findings known to decision makers and lobby for urgent action to be taken.