The disappearance of bees
Bees are disappearing by the billions every year. However, the survival of more than 80% of the plant species listed on the planet depends on pollinating insects of which the bee is the main one. The bee provides more than half of our global food resources. An essential link in biodiversity at the heart of the food chain, the bee is a major and irreplaceable pollinating insect. By its ingenuity, by transporting pollen from the male reproductive organs to the female reproductive organs of flowers, it helps the preservation of plant species on our planet. Today in our developed countries including France, the existence of the bee is called into question by the agricultural techniques of man who for several decades has been oriented towards intensive agriculture, consuming all kinds of chemicals incompatible with the good health of bees and animal species.
On the left a supermarket stall after the work of the bees / On the right a supermarket stall where the bees would no longer exist
Until the 90s, honey flowed afloat in our countryside, it was not worth much. With the arrival of neonicotinoids for the treatment of agricultural land, honey production plunged slowly into the abyss and prices soared. In addition, our campaigns have become poorer in flower varieties, certain regions are invaded by intensive monocultures (maize, wheat, rapeseed, sunflower) which have slowly changed the biodiversity and the appearance of our campaigns. Hedges and pastures have been replaced by lunar plains where nothing grows without fertilizers and pesticides and where the life of our pollinating insects has become impossible.
Ban on pesticides
Recently, hope has emerged that certain neonicotinoids may be banned. On Friday April 27, 2018, representatives of the European Union member states decided to ban three products from this family of insecticides (clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam) deemed dangerous for bees. The moratorium has been extended and generalized to all outdoor crops, only the use in greenhouses remains authorized.
A majority therefore voted in favor of the ban, including France, Germany and Great Britain. Four countries voted against: Denmark, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania. Nine countries abstained.
The German agro-chemical group Bayer deplored this decision and decided to do everything possible to the European Court of Justice to cancel its adoption.
The scientific record concerning these neurotoxic and very persistent "bee killers" is, however, more than substantiated. Considered conservative and close to the interests of industrialists, the European Food Safety Authority itself, in February 2018, concluded that neonicotinoids are very toxic to honey bees, solitary bees and bumblebees.
Many foods and crops that we enjoy every day, therefore, depend on the pollination of bees. Without them, we can say goodbye to fruits, vegetables, oilseeds, seeds…
Simple actions to save the bees
Here are some simple steps to preserve the lives of our bee friends and increase the production of your trees and crops:
Plant a garden favorable to insects and bees (composed of honey plants such as thyme, borage, lilac, verbena, honeysuckle, heather, hyacinths, and many others ...).
Buy locally produced fruits and vegetables from crop-friendly farmers
Let the weeds grow, especially the clover and dandelion
Ban pesticides
Don't kill the bees! If you feel uncomfortable, choose to move away from the garden
Eat real honey from a safe source
Install a beehive if you can
So we can say thank you to the bees and pamper them!