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Round up a danger to bees?

debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
in Problem solving
Just read on my Facebook there is a new campaign to stop shops selling round up as it's potentially harmful to bees. Don't use it myself or any weedkiller but is this true or scare mongering? Anyone got any information? 
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  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    There is a report from a study that suggests even low exposure to glyphosate harms the navigational systems in bees - http://jeb.biologists.org/content/218/17/2799 
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Big Blue SkyBig Blue Sky Posts: 716

    Glyphosate is extremely harmful, and not only for bees, but also for people. A first law suit against Monsanto, claiming that glyphosate causes cancer, will be going to trial after recent jury decision. Not only didn't Monsanto warn consumers about the dangers of that chemical, but it looks like they actively tried to conceal them, by faking reports etc. Easy to google, the name of the plaintiff Dewayne Johnson.

    The dangers of glyphosate are definitely NOT scare mongering. Many countries have banned glyphosate-based herbicides, or are in the process of doing so (incl. Germany, Austria, Australia, Belgium, France, Canada etc.).

    https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/toxic-tort-law/monsanto-roundup-lawsuit/where-is-glyphosate-banned/


    Surrey
  • RaspberryKillerRaspberryKiller Posts: 156
    Isn't it dangerous to everything?
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    RaspberryKiller said:
    Isn't it dangerous to everything?
    Somehow bees are the ones mentioned every time in the press. 
    Maybe because bees and butterflies have more supporters than wasps and caterpillars?


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    I think you have to decide for yourself whether 'not proven to cause harm' (which is true at the moment) is adequate reassurance. Or whether you would wait for 'proven not to cause harm' (which is dependent on whether they've tested a particular creature or network of creatures) before spraying it on the soil around your home. Bees are not the only creature critical to our survival as a species - all the many vertebrates, invertebrates, fungi and other micro-organisms that go to make 'soil' and that we barely have any understanding of at the moment are fundamental to life - all life. Bacteria aren't as pretty as bumble bees, but we don't know how or whether any herbicides and pesticides affect them.

    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    We do know though, that they are very good at evolving/mutating, hence the continued need for new antibiotics, and it is not inconceivable that damage from environmental sources, including chemicals, could promote this effect, maybe with unintended consequences...
  • Fishy65Fishy65 Posts: 2,276
    Roundup is damaging not only to us but the whole ecosystem. Earlier this year I was tempted to buy some on account of the bindweed problem but can't bring myself to start spraying toxins around. It hasn't mattered this summer anyway as even the bindweed struggled with no rain. But I'm glad I didn't cave in, ditto with slug pellets. Each to their own but I don't want chemicals in my garden.
  • Mark56Mark56 Posts: 1,653
    I agree wholeheartedly Fishy  :)
  • Mary370Mary370 Posts: 2,003
    I would imagine any/all pesticides are harmful to bees and all other living things..including humans
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    edited August 2018
    Mary370 said:
    I would imagine any/all pesticides are harmful to bees and all other living things..including humans
    Roundup is a herbicide. Other damage is a side effect


    In the sticks near Peterborough
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