[Pollinator] Vanishing og The Bees Debuts in UK

[Ladadams at aol.com]

This ezine is also available online at 
_http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2009.09.30.08.38.archive.html_ 
(http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2009.09.30.08.38.archive.html) 

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 The Magazine Of American  Beekeeping, and on October 5,  2009…Bee Culture 
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CATCH  THE BUZZ 
Years in the  making, Vanishing Of The Bees Debuts in UK Tommorow   
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by Alan Harman 
The world’s largest consumer-owned business calls  on the British 
government to commission research into the effects some  pesticides are having on 
honey bees. 
The call by The Cooperative Ltd.  coincides with the launch of the feature 
film, Vanishing of the Bees, which  outlines the decline in the honey bee 
population 
The coop wants everyone who sees the  film to write to Environment Minister 
Hilary Benn MP urging him to fund research  into the neonicotinoid family 
of chemicals. 
Some studies have linked these types  of pesticides to honey bee colony 
collapse. 
The coop announced in January it was  was expanding its market-leading 
pesticide policy and prohibiting the use of all  eight of the neonicotinoid 
family of chemicals on its own-brand fresh  produce. 
The banned pesticides are  Acetamiprid, Clothianidin, Dinotefuran, 
Fipronil, Imidacloprid, Nitenpyram,  Thiacloprid and Thiamethoxam. 
At the same time, it said it was  giving £150,000 ($241,480) for research 
into the decline of the honey bee, the  UK’s largest ever private donation 
for bee research. 
Last spring the coop’s farms began a  three-year research project seeking 
to identify the optimal mix of wildflowers  that can be sown in field margins 
and on “set-aside” land to attract and support  honey bees. 
The coop is the UK’s largest farmer  with more than 61,780 acres of land 
under management. 
The coop’s head of social goals Paul  Monaghan says the alarming drop in 
the number of honey bees and in turn the  threat that has on our food supplies 
is very worrying and it is essential to  find out what is happening and 
quickly. 
“The finger of suspicion has been  pointed at some pesticides and in 
particular, the use of neonicotinoids,” he  says. “This family of chemicals has 
been linked to honey bee declines elsewhere  in Europe and that is why they 
have been restricted in Germany, France, Italy  and Slovenia. However, very 
little independent research into their effects on  bees has been carried out 
in the UK.  
“That is why we are calling for the  government, which earlier this year 
announced that it had put aside £10 million  ($16 million) to be used on 
pollinator research, to carry out a systematic  review of the impact these 
pesticides are having on the well-being of honey  bees.” 
Vanishing of the Bees, the latest  film to be distributed by the coop is a 
new chapter in its Plan Bee campaign  designed to help halt the fall in the 
number of honey bees and raise awareness  of the issue. The film tells the 
story of the worldwide decline in bee  populations and explores the potential 
causes behind the losses. 
The coop, after the acquisition of  Somerfield supermarkets, is the world's 
largest consumer-owned business, with  more than 4.5 million members and 
87,000 employees. 
.   The food retail business is the  largest division of the coop. It 
directly operates more than 2,200 stores of  various sizes with the biggest 
geographical spread of any retailer. 
Filmmakers George Langworthy and  Maryam Henein say they were drawn to make 
the documentary because it  encapsulates grand issues about ecology, 
agriculture, economy and politics in a  mystery about the amazing little honey 
bee. 
“Beekeepers and scientists are  fascinating people and we really have been 
blessed with such generous access to  their homes, their travels, their 
laboratories and their innermost thoughts and  feelings,” they say. 
To find out more about this film and the film makers go visit their web  
page _here_ (http://vanishingbees.co.uk/)    






Laurie Davies Adams
Executive  Director
Pollinator Partnership 
423 Washington Street, 5th  floor
San Francisco, CA  94111
415-362-1137
LDA at pollinator.org

_www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 

_www.nappc.org_ (http://www.nappc.org/) 

National Pollinator Week is June 21-27, 2010. 
Beecome  involved at _www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 
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