Prof Dave Goulson presented on the decline of bumble bee populations due to the widespread use of neonicotinoids (NNCDs). NNCDs are systemic pesticides that permeate the entire plant and are extremely lethal to bees, even at very low doses. Studies show NNCDs can damage bee cognitive abilities and have led to an 85% reduction in queen production. While pesticides are often blamed for bee declines, habitat loss from agricultural intensification is likely the largest driver. The political influence of large agrochemical companies has pushed for intensive pesticide usage despite evidence of their environmental impacts. Recently the EU implemented a moratorium on NNCDs in hopes of reviewing farming practices and moving to a more

1. Bumble Beesvs Neonicotinoids
Leadingbumble bee ecologistProf Dave Goulsonof the Universityof Sussexpresentedatalk
entitled,“Bee declines,pesticidesandpolitics”. He gave an overviewof neonicotinoids (NNCDs)
there usage andtheireffectonwildlife inparticularbumble beepopulations. He alsoaddressedthe
political side of the situationwiththe role thatlarge agrochemical companiesplayinpushingthe use
of NNCDs. Ignoringscientificresearch whichshowsthe hazardsassociatedwithuse of NNCDsand
presentingtheirownpoorlyconstructedexperimentsshowingNNCDsafetyinresponse.
Bumble beesplayanimportant role inthe ecosystemasmajorpollinators. Theypollinate greater
than 1000 speciesof flowers. Inrecentyearsthere hasbeenageneral decline inbee numbers
throughoutEngland,hisareaof study,andthisisreflectedinbee populationsinIrelandandEurope.
Many factors have playedarole inthiswithhabitatloss,parasites,diseaseandpesticidesbeingthe
mainplayers. Althoughpesticidesare the posterboysof bee decline,ata recenttalkbyDr Una
Fitzpatrick of the National BiodiversityDataCentre she placedhabitatlossasthe largestfactor
drivingbee decline withagricultural intensification beingthe cause.
Diseaseshave alsonowbecome aseriousproblemwiththe transportof bee populationsaroundthe
world. Thiswholesaletransportwithlimitedsafetyprotocols notonlystressesthe bee populations
transportedbutalsofacilitatesthe transportof diseasestoareaswhere there islimitedresistance to
them. For instance the Asianbee diseaseNosemaceranaehasbeenfoundin25% of wildbumble
bee populationsinEngland. AnotherexampleinChile wasthe release of EuropeanBombus
terrestris where the diseasestheycarriedare wipingoutnative populations.
Pesticide usage incurrentfarmingpracticesisnow widespreadandintensive. Prof Goulsonimplied
thisisdue tothe change infarmingpracticesfromthe olderpractice of “IntegratedFarming”,a
whole farmmanagementsystemthatpromotedsustainable agriculture withuse of pesticidesonly
whenneeded. The systeminplace nowisone of mass pesticide treatmentfromthe seedtothe
crop and throughoutthe year. He attributedthistothe role of agronomistsandthe powerful
lobbyingof the large agrochemical companies. Whenfarmersaskforadvice onfarmingpractices
the agronomistsare the people theyturntoand many are in the employof large agrochemical
companies andwill advocate wide scale pesticideusage. Toillustrate thisintensificationof pesticide
usage he showedthaton average a fieldof arable landcancontainroughly22 differentpesticides
whichare appliedthroughoutthe year.
Nowwe introduce the villainof the piece,Neonicotinoids. NNCDsare a systemicpesticide which
permeatesthe entire plant. Theyare extremelylethal and acommonNNCD,Imidacloprid, hasan
LD50, whichmeansa dose that will kill 50% of a testedpopulation,of 5ngfor bees. To give this
some perspectivethe pesticide DDT,centre of widespreadcontroversyinthe 1970s due to its
damagingeffectonthe ecologyandhumanhealth,hasan LD50 of 27,000ng for bees. The fate of
appliedpesticidesisfar-reaching. Lessthan5% of appliedNNCDsare takenupby the crop. Roughly
94% entersthe soil andsoil water,reachingwaterwaysandspreadingtootherplants,ithas been
foundinplantsand hedgesnearfieldstreated. The remaining1% iscarriedinthe air as dust. It also
has a longhalf-life rangingfromroughly200-1000 days.
Beesare exposedtothiswhentheycome intoplantstreateddirectlyorindirectly,gardens,arable
crops and fieldmargins. Althoughthe levelstheyare exposedtoare probablynotenoughtodirectly

2. kill theycandamage learningabilitiesandnavigationasNNCDisa neurotoxin. A studyshowedan
85% lossinqueenproductionincoloniestreatedwithfoodatsame concentrationasfoundinthe
pollenandnectarof treatedcrops. Otherstudieshave shownalossinproductivity,lowerworker
production,increasedworkermortalityandlowerpollencollection. Aquaticinsectdiversityandbird
populationsneartreatedfieldshave alsobeenshowntobe negativelyaffected.
Anothermind-bogglingstatistiche revealedwasthatsome studieshave shownthatNNCDshave
verylittle impactoncrop yields,makingyouwonderhow theyevergotintothe marketplace inthe
firstplace which alsoillustrateshowpowerfulagrochemical companiesare andhow much influence
theyhave at apparentlynumerouslevelsof governmentandindustry. Despite all thisdoomand
gloomthere isa silverliningasthe EU has recently implementedamoratoriumonNNCDs for2
years. Thismay hopefullyinstigate areview of farmingpractices,leadtoa more ecological formof
farmingandbe the firstof many challengestothe powerof ‘BigPharma’.