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EU regulator suspects BASF insecticide of harming bees

May 27, 2013 19:15
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Union's food safety regulator has added a BASF insecticide to the list of crop chemicals it suspects of playing a role in declining bee populations. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said in a statement on Monday that BASF's fipronil poses an "acute risk to honeybees when used as a seed treatment for maize", citing dust drift in particular.

EU eyes pesticide ban over bee scare

Agence France-PresseApril 29, 2013 07:30
A key committee of EU experts was meeting on Monday to mull a two-year ban on pesticides blamed for a sharp and worrying decline in bee populations. European Union sources have told AFP that a decision to suspend the use of certain pesticides is likely following the closed-door talks between experts from the 27 member nations that kicked off at 0800 GMT.

EU set to ban pesticides blamed for decline of bees

Agence France-PresseApril 25, 2013 12:16
The EU appears set to impose a two-year ban on the use of insecticides blamed for a sharp and worrying decline in bee populations, an EU source said Thursday. A committee of experts is due to vote Monday on the ban in an effort to protect bees and other insects which play an indispensible role in food production through plant pollination. A vote earlier this year failed to produce a large enough qualified majority in favour, forcing the European Commission to try a second time.

CORRECTED: Life is sweet for beekepers in Greece, but for how long?

Agence France-PresseApril 21, 2013 01:30
The rosemary season has ended, but sage is in full bloom. In the fragrant hills of the Peloponnese in southern Greece, after a few sharp turns along a path, Nikos Reppas' old car arrives at bee heaven: a field full of violet hyacinths, close to the prehistoric ruins of Mycenae. Since antiquity, when according to Greek mythology the god of love Eros dipped his arrows into honey before shooting them, the golden liquid has been flowing in abundance in this country, free of genetic modification and gleaned from vast, uncultivated lands.

Life is sweet for beekepers in Greece, but for how long?

Agence France-PresseApril 21, 2013 00:30
The rosemary season has ended, but sage is in full bloom. In the fragrant hills of the Peloponnese in southern Greece, after a few sharp turns along a path, Nikos Reppas' old car arrives at bee heaven: a field full of violet hyacinths, close to the prehistoric ruins of Mycenae. Since antiquity, when according to Greek mythology the god of love Eros dipped his arrows into honey before shooting them, the golden liquid has been flowing in abundance in this country, free of genetic modification and gleaned from vast, uncultivated lands.

Greenpeace protest over bee deaths at Swiss firm

April 17, 2013 05:45
Greenpeace activists claiming pesticides decimate bee populations protested Wednesday at the headquarters of Swiss agrichemical giant Syngenta, hanging a huge banner outside. The banner, reading "Syngenta Pesticides Kill Bees!", was unfurled by Greenpeace environmental campaigners who scaled the company's headquarters in the northern Swiss city of Basel. Greenpeace has demanded that Switzerland follow the lead of neighbours France, Germany and Italy in banning the contested pesticides, which are also forbidden in Slovenia.

US regulators under fire over bee-toxic pesticides

March 27, 2013 20:01
US environmental regulators are under fire from beekeepers and conservationists who say they are failing to vet risky pesticides that put people and valuable crop pollinators like bees in peril. On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council issued a scathing report of the Environmental Protection Agency's record of using a loophole to allow more than 10,000 "untested or under-tested" pesticides on the market.

US regulators under fire over bee-toxic pesticides

March 27, 2013 17:00
US environmental regulators are under fire from beekeepers and conservationists who say they are failing to vet risky pesticides that put people and valuable crop pollinators like bees in peril. On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council issued a scathing report of the Environmental Protection Agency's record of using a loophole to allow more than 10,000 "untested or under-tested" pesticides on the market.

Thousands of pesticides dodge US regulation: report

March 27, 2013 13:48
Thousands of pesticides are allowed onto the US market without rigorous safety testing, putting people, animals and crop pollinators like bees at risk, a US environmental group said Wednesday. The Natural Resources Defense Council said the culprit is a congressional loophole dating back to 1978, which has allowed the Environmental Protection Agency to approve more than 10,000 pesticides with minimal testing.

EU aims for fresh vote to ban insecticides harmful to bees

March 19, 2013 09:46
The European Commission said Tuesday it will try again to get member states to back a two-year ban on insecticides harmful to bees whose numbers have been in sharp and worrying decline. EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg told EU agriculture ministers meeting in Brussels that he wanted to revisit the issue after the measure failed to get enough votes from national experts on a committee. "The Commission still envisages to have measures in place" by July 1, Borg's spokesman said, adding that the issue will now go to an appeal committee after further discussions.
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