Doubts raised over neonic ban as bee scientists clash
January 20, 2015
From: Farmers Weekly
Concerns are mounting over the scientific backing behind a ban on neonicotinoid seed treatments as two researchers at the same university row over possibly flawed experiments.
The two scientists at the University of Sussex disagree on whether neonicotinoids were to blame for a decline in bee populations, which was the main factor behind the ban on the pesticide.
Bee researcher Norman Carreck is accusing his colleague Dave Goulson of feeding bumblebees unrealistic high levels of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid in the laboratory to show an adverse effect on bees.
Nearly 3% of the oilseed rape crop was destroyed by cabbage stem flea beetles in autumn 2014 after the ban on the insecticides, and in hotspots like the M11 corridor damage has been much higher.
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