[Pollinator] Fwd: CATCH THE BUZZ - British Beekeepers End Pesticide Support

Wed Nov 17 11:12:32 PST 2010

As posted on Bee Culture

Laurie Davies Adams
Executive Director
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____________________________________
 From: Kim at BeeCulture.com
To: LDA at pollinator.org
Sent: 11/17/2010  10:26:01 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
Subj: CATCH THE BUZZ - British  Beekeepers End Pesticide Support

This ezine is also available online at 
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CATCH THE BUZZ  
The BBKA is to end its commercial relationship with a pesticide  
manufacturer whose products killed bees.  
>From The Guardian, by Allison Benjamin 
The _British Beekeepers'  Association_ (http://www.britishbee.org.uk/)  has 
today announced plans to end its  controversial practice of endorsing 
pesticides in return for cash from leading  chemical manufacturers.  
The endorsement of four products as "bee-friendly" in return for  £17,500 a 
year caused outrage among many beekeepers because one of the  companies, 
_Bayer Crop Science_ 
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/16/greenwash-bbka-bees-pesticides) , makes  pesticides that are widely implicated in 
the deaths of honeybees worldwide.  
But the BBKA denies that it has bowed to pressure from members  who have 
been increasingly critical of the its stance. Bayer's clothianidin  was 
identified as causing the death of two-thirds of honeybees in southern  Germany in 
2008.  
In a statement sent outtoday to the secretaries of local  beekeeping 
associations across the UK, the BBKA's president, Martin Smith,  said: "Following 
discussion with the companies involved, the BBKA trustees  have decided that 
endorsement and related product-specific payments will cease  as soon as 
practically possible."  
He added: "The four products subject to BBKA endorsement are of  declining 
commercial importance and the development of _new classes of pesticides_ 
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/29/endangeredspecies.wildlife)  
and  application techniques means that the relationship with the 
plant-protection  industry should be reviewed."  
Beekeeper Graham White, who resigned from the BBKA more than two  years ago 
in protest at what he called a "secret deal done with the pesticide  ma
nufacturers whose products are lethal to bees", welcomed today's decision.  
"It's great news, but it's too little, too late," he said. "They  should 
have been showing solidarity with beekeepers in France, Germany, Italy  and 
Slovenia when pesticides were banned there after being implicated in bee  
deaths, instead of selling their logo to the manufacturers."  
Smith defended its position then as one of "constructive  engagement" to 
ensure pesticides were properly applied as per the instructions  on the label 
to minimise damage to honeybees.  
The BBKA's position has polarised the 45,000-strong beekeeping  community, 
but the majority of BBKA members upheld its policy at its annual  delegate 
meeting earlier this year and in 2009.  
At the next meeting in January, delegates will be asked to note  today's 
decision "with respect to the cessation of BBKA endorsement of certain  
pesticides".  
But the organisation has not ruled out accepting funds in the  future from 
pesticide companies. "The trustees may wish to invite companies to  exhibit 
at the BBKA's spring convention or make a contribution to the BBKA  research 
fund," said Smith.  
"It is time to broaden the range of engagement with the  crop-protection 
industry beyond the narrow focus of endorsing certain  products; rather to 
contribute more directly to the development of new  regulatory criteria for 
pesticide approval and to further support the industry  in the general move to 
improve countryside stewardship," he added.  
White says all ties to the pesticide industry should be  immediately 
severed. "All of those who created and directed this policy of  pesticide 
endorsement must be thrown out of the BBKA and replaced by real  beekeepers. The 
BBKA is not fit for purpose and will never recover its moral  integrity until 
it is reconstituted as a pure beekeeping organisation that is  willing to 
campaign against all use of systemic pesticides on British farms."  

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