Sweeter Than Honey

BEE KILLING 'EMERGENCY' PESTICIDES BANNED

Nature lovers were left buzzing yesterday (Thursday 23rd January 2025) when the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) finally announced that bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides which are already outlawed, have now also been banned for 'emergency use'.

Whilst the use of neonicotinoids, which are particularly lethal to bees and other vital pollinators, was outlawed across Europe in 2018, the previous UK government approved the 'emergency' authorisation of these deadly chemicals for four years in a row, even against the scientific advice of their own Expert Committee on Pesticides.

Bees are essential for our survival - pollinating much of our food and playing a critical role in sustaining ecosystems around the world. However, wild bee populations have been decimated, with the use of pesticides on farms being a key contributor to their rapid decline.

Prof Dave Goulson, a bee expert at the University of Sussex, had previously warned that just one teaspoon of the neonicotinoid pesticide Cruiser SB, which is used on sugar beet to kill a disease spreading aphid, is enough to kill 1.25bn honeybees. The chemical can also stay in the soil for years and washes off into our rivers and streams. Even when diluted into doses that are not directly fatal, it can cause cognitive problems impacting bees foraging abilities and the productivity of hives.

The announcement on Thursday, came just two weeks after a petition signed by more than 1.6 million people urging the government to enforce a total ban on bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides was handed in to DEFRA by environmental campaigners. In addition to this campaign, co-ordinated by Greenpeace, 15 leading climate and nature charities - including Pesticide Action Network, RSPB and Wildlife Trusts also wrote separately to the environment minister, calling for an end to the emergency authorisation of neonicotinoids on sugar beet crop.

In a statement issued by Defra they said that their new decision was based on "robust assessments of environmental, health and economic risks and benefits, and advice from Defra's Chief Scientific Adviser, its economists, the Health and Safety Executive and the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides."