He should have samples from apiaries for pesticide analysis but we've had no comments on that yet.
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He should have samples from apiaries for pesticide analysis but we've had no comments on that yet.
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...on a very small sample set.Quote:
Originally Posted by chris
If Murray's McGregor's colonies had been included there would have been no East West difference to report and the average losses everywhere would have been brought down.
If nothing else it suggests that Murray McGregor knows how to manage his bees better than the average hobby beekeeper.
So again it's Murray versus EFSA.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon
Only one way to settle this.....ha ha..
As a resident of North East Scotland I would say that colony losses are in the main being experienced by new beekeepers of which there are many. Usually during their first winter. Usually down to improper feeding and lack of varroa treatment. Usually they have one colony equalling 100% loss. All of the experienced beekeepers I know just aren't experiencing the "devastating" losses so beloved by the media, and funding applications. Hey - there's money to be made in the fiction that "the bees are all dying".
During the last two winters (touch wood) I haven't lost a single colony.
Here in the west I've lost two so far this winter ... and I know exactly why I lost each one. No mystery, nor, actually, was it poor beekeeping.
I fit that demographic perfectly ! New beek, 1 colony, 1st winter, 1 loss - although it was down to 2 successive drone layers and then not enough winter bees I think.Quote:
Originally Posted by drumgerry
Losses are going to be higher than usual in NI this winter including among the more experienced beekeepers.
For some reason the nucs have overwintered very poorly and a lot have been lost.
We don't have much oil seed rape sown in NI although I do have a couple of fields near my main site at the allotment most years.
There is a farmer about 15 miles away who grows well over 100 acres every year and I know a couple of beekeepers who bring bees to his fields every year in April.
It will be very interesting to see the results of pesticide analysis in bee samples from the Scottish apiaries.
This type of work, much bigger studies in fact, has been done many times already in different jurisdictions and the samples typically indicate a great number of pesticides, fungicides and miticides. Neonicotinoids sometimes show up but they are not prevalent and often the main products found are the varroa treatments used by the beekeeper. The Mullen et al study in the US is a good example.
The strangest thing is that the bees build up really well in April when they must have maximum exposure, they fill a couple of supers and are then supposed to die 8 or 9 months later from miniscule amounts in the stored pollen and nectar.
Bear in mind that bees only live about 6 weeks so the entire colony bar the queen will have turned over several times before the winter so the only possible route of exposure is via something stored in the hive.
This should be the easiest thing in the world to demonstrate by testing bees in winter for neonicotinoid residues so if this is happening why has noone produced the evidence?
That part of the argument does not stack up for me.
At this point, the campaigners claim that it must be there but it cannot be detected but the tests are incredibly sensitive.
Yes I have heard it and we both know the author! Total stream of consciousness waffle. No evidence. No supporting studies, just make it up as you go along stuff.
Admin note: as Jon's post now seems nonsensical, I should point out that JTF posted before this the hypothesis that neonics interfere with brain function and hence the bees' perception of daylength. This would then affect the production of winter bees. John (the farmers) himself clearly realised that it wasn't a sensible hypothesis and withdrew the post. Just explaining ....
at ofHi,Jon,Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon
Yes, it may seem perplexing. But there is maybe a way of seeing through the complexities....
First off, I must confess to having little personal knowledge of bee stuff. But I do farm and I have an excellent tutor..
We should all know that even the tiniest levels,at crucial stages of development,of neurotoxins can seriously bugger up foetal/larval development.
So, not only are workers messed about with their satnav, the colony immunity defence to everything is impaired,their grooming off of bugs wrecked, but the offsping are born spoiled.
Looks to me as if the original claims by Bayer re' Premise plus Nature 'are probably correct ,not just for Termites!
THEY CHOSE NOT TO CHECK WHETHER BEES WERE SIMILARLY AFFECTED!
How bad is that?
John, the termite treatment you refer to involved pumping massive quantities of the stuff into the ground around the building being treated. There is no comparison at all with the minute ppb quantities found in pollen and nectar.
There are multiple factors involved in colony mortality and trying to shoehorn every fatality into the neonic arena is frankly bonkers.
I could list at least half a dozen factors which are more likely to be in play this winter.
Colonies have died in winter before the 1990s when neonics were but a twinkle in the eye of Bayer.
There are historical records of mass bee die offs and dwindle which go back to the mid 19th century about 100 years before the modern pesticide driven fertilizer fueled modern agricultural era started.
Google 'isle of wight disease' and there are many similar historical references as well.