Pollinator Protection Policy Failure: European Bee Losses Up Following Neonicotinoid Ban
August 19, 2015
The European Union’s moratorium on neonicotinoid use has failed to protect bees. The latest data from COLOSS (Prevention of honey bee COlony LOSSes), “an international, non-profit association headquartered in Bern, Switzerland” shows that bee losses are increasing in the EU following the ban.
A comparison COLOSS’s July 2015 preliminary results compared with the July 2014 data shows that honey bee losses increased in the EU. For example, bee colony losses in
- Germany, which has by far the largest number of colonies in the EU, soared from 8% to over 20%.
- Denmark went from 7.1% to 10.2%.
- Austria almost doubled, going from 12.8% to 24.7%.
- Lavia increased from 7.2% to 11.4%
- Poland grew from 8.4% to 12.7%
The data demonstrates that the European Union’s moratorium on neonicotinoids has failed to protect bees. The United States should not follow its example. Instead, pollinator protection efforts need to focus on bee-killing pestilence and pathogens, such as varroa.
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