Great British Bee Count launched
Friends of the Earth launch Great British Bee Count
Friends of the Earth (FOE) has launched its Great British Bee Count (19 May-30 June). The aim is to enable people to find out more about the bees that visit their neighbourhoods and take action to help protect them.
Nick Rau, FOE bee campaigner, said: ‘Green-minded gardeners will be understandably concerned that some stores and garden centres are selling plants treated with pesticides linked to bee decline– including some plants that are labelled as “pollinator friendly”. Friends of the Earth’s Great British Bee Count is urging people to create wildlife-friendly gardens and other spaces to help our under-threat bees. Ask your retailer if their plants have been grown without bee-harming pesticides – if in doubt choose organic plants or grow them from seed.’
The research on neonicotinoids (a class of insecticides chemically related to nicotine) and plants, the first of its kind to be carried out in the UK, was led by leading bee expert professor Dave Goulson.
Of twenty-nine plants examined at Sussex University, over seventy per cent contained neonicotinoid pesticides – including three pesticides restricted across Europe that have been found to pose a ‘high acute risk’ to honey bees.
