Bees: How can we do more ?
Annyfran L
Posts: 13
Has anyone seen the latest petition doing the rounds from SumofUs.
Its all about trying to stop Bayer who are suing the EU for banning bee killing pesticides (so that they can reintroduce them and properly make bees extinct); I purchased some Bayer Top Rose only the other day....so I can't talk. What can we as ordinary gardeners do to send a message to companys like Bayer. There just doesn't seem to be any collective responsibility to our environment shown by big business. Everyone, from the top down buys into that profit imperative by saying little; big business, gurus, garden magazines, garden centres,
I don't want to bring politics into it - but thats one of the benefits of belonging to a big power block like Europe - they can have an influence on the environment which affects an entire continent (well...we would hope it does in this instance).
I aspire to organic gardening, but I am typical of many gardeners I suppose, I do my best but just sometimes.... so I am feeling sad that theres not more pro-active, maybe subtle campaigning done by people of influence, big name gardeners, telly programmes, GQT, garden centres etc etc. Why does the gardening world seem to do so little to name and shame the big poisoners and so little to encourage ordinary and especially new gardeners to think "the environment MUST come first"?
Well I know survival is the name of the game for business interests - including Gardeners World - but sometimes I can go into my local big garden centre and they won't even have a peat free compost on display... ..whats that all about? What it all seems to be about is that environmental matters come way way down the list of priorities - if they even figure at all. I'm very sad about that.
Posts
Thank you for that Mr J. How thoughtful. I think I had already acknowledged I was at fault there.
Don't buy their stuff ......... and there've been complaints on here, I've noticed, when a certain TV gardener mentioned their non-chemical method to deal with ground elder
I wouldn't have expected anything else from him - that's why I read all his books, watch all his programmes, read all his articles.
I don't think I ever used insecticides. If I did it was too long ago to recall. I've signed petitions too numerous to count but I'll sign as many more as is necessary.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Same here
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The problem is the neonics. Google it if you need info, neonicotinoids is the full name. It is used as an agricultural herbicide and has been around for decades. It used to be very expensive and most growers and farmers couldn't afford it. Now it is relatively cheap. There was an EU ban but it has now been lifted....stupid move. It doesn't kill bees outright but kills off the plants they feed on. Bees need all the help they can get. Plant bee friendly flowers in your garden. And campaign to reinstate the ban.
Agree with all of the above. Also, challenge GCs if they give out mixed messages with 'bee-friendly' plants and have insecticides close by (they do!).
Plant for bees; do not use double flowers or bedding plants as I think they are sterile. A good read is Dave Goulsons's book 'A Sting in the Tale' mostly about bumbles, but some horrifying stuff on sprays and crops.
OK, off soapbox now...
Grannybee: it isn't that double flowers are sterile but rather because of the doubleness the bees can't get into them. If you want to help bees go for singles.