Bijensterfte, oorzaken en gevolgen

Wetenschappers dringen aan op transitie naar bijvriendelijke landbouw
Utrecht & Tokyo, 7 juni 2013
Wereldwijd kampen imkers met abnormaal hoge volksterfte en verzwakte bijen. Een internationaal team van wetenschappers geleid door Universiteit Utrecht bracht de recente wetenschappelijke stand van kennis in kaart over de effecten van neonicotinoïde insecticiden op bijen. Grootschalig preventief gebruik in de landbouw, in combinatie met hoge persistentie in bodem en water en opname door planten die het gif doorgeven aan hun stuifmeel en nectar, leiden tot substantiële risico’s. De wetenschappers concluderen dat de bestuiving van bloeiende planten en landbouwgewassen op het spel staat.

[NGO Viewpoint] The Japan Endocrine-disruptor Preventive Action programme published a report on the impacts of the very large scale use of neonicotinoid insecticides (Nitenpyram, Thiamethoxam, Thiacloprid, Dinotefuran, Clothianidin, Imidacloprid and Acetamiprid) in Japan on ecosystems, honeybees and human health in Japan.

The office tower would not look out of place in any central Tokyo street: from its glass entrance door and sweeping marble lobby to the ear-popping lift with its steady influx of salarymen. But this particular building is not only abuzz with the activity of its grey-suited workers. Its rooftop is home to a less conventional breed of tenants: more than 300,000 honeybees. The decline of the honeybee has led to experts making increasingly vociferous calls for urban dwellers to take up beekeeping in cities where pesticide contamination is low and honeybees are able to flourish.

The Daily Yomiuri(Tokyo), May 19, 2009 Tuesday

The low buzzing of honeybees lingered on the sandbar in the middle of the Kisogawa river, on the border of Aichi and Gifu prefectures.

Workers wearing netting on their faces used bellows to blow smoke into the hives to calm the occupants, and quietly opened the beehives.