As you are no doubt aware there are worldwide concerns about the collapse of Honeybee colonies (I've blogged about these many times), Warwick university are embarking on a project to unravel the "complex of interacting factors" to do they've been given £1m to do so by the government's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
Warwick University says it will investiage the "parasitic diseases caused by the varroa mite" and the "link between these diseases and the quality of pollen and nectar that the bees are feeding on" but there is no mention of pesticides. When the Guardian contacted on of Warwick's researchers, Dr David Chandler he confirmed that there is "no pesticide component in it at all."
Don't you think that's odd? Well you would until you realise that the grant is in parntership with Syngenta who produces ............... pesticides.
Do read the article it goes on to state that the BBSRC committee contains many executives of Chemical comapnies.
Now it may be possible that pesticides have no impact but how can you set up a research and ignore pesticides?
However the following is intriguing:
As Private Eye notes today, Syngenta is the chemicals company that manufactures a neonicotinoid called thiamethoxam, sold as Actara, which has been fingered by a study in Washington state as responsible for incidents of honeybee deaths.
3 comments:
It's so disheartening when you read that the grant is in partnership with the chemical company. I expect that will keep the researchers mouths shut re: chemicals and the effects on bees. As far as I'm concerned these chemicals/pesticides are the cause of the decline of a lot of insects.
I think you summed it up perfectly Pete...wheels within wheels methinks!
Chemists have so much to answer for - but the science is good. It's the money side of things that does the damage.
Post a Comment