I don't think you can 'challenge' a garden centre for selling a particular product simply because you don't agree with the ethics. It's a business after all. A range of products is available so that customers can make their own choices.
As always - education and information is the way forward
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Apologies to Mr J. No excuse. I'm just plain horrible sometimes.
Thank you for all the suggestions and info - the science was interesting from Redwing - thanks - and I know we all do our bit and the problems lie in the use of pesticides etc in large scale agriculture rather than with gardeners.
On the subject of labelling it's been great to see that some growers (or is it the Garden centres who are behind the development?) have a bee friendly symbol on their plants. I find that very helpful - thats the sort of practice that could be made universal? It all helps to make you think the seller is doing his bit to help you make good choices for the environment. And I think that's the sort of thing I think Garden centres could do more of.... sort of subtle public information and pro- environmental campaigning - good for business too, surely?
And..sorry to go on...can anyone help with a general piece of advice about sterility? I know Erysimum Bowles purple (perennial wallflower) has a long season and is great for bees I think... I accidentally bought several with a slightly different name... Bowles Superb it might have been (not sure)... does the different different name suggest its a hybrid...and does that mean its automatically sterile and therefore not so good for bees?
Problem with buying plants from the GC ...... they may be labelled 'Bee Friendly' but may have already been treated paradoxically with systemic pesticides to get them from grower to buyer ....... and did you know that pressure treated timber - fence posts, sleepers, stuff like that - are treated with glycophosphate as part of the process ........ Very very difficult to avoid pesticides .........
Almost the whole of the UK is affected now .... just some of the more remote parts of Scotland are currently dodging the bullet so far. So most beekeepers have to try and manage the population of mites in each hive.
Redwing has raised the issue of neonicotinoides and the effect on bees. There is some evidence that it affects the nervous system of bees and impairs their ability to navigate back to their hives after foraging. It is used as a seed dressing so is systemic.
The current ban in most of the EU (some areas of the UK are exempt) means that farmers are now using older chemicals and spraying their crops .... also bad news for the bees.
So it's a rock and a hard place for pollinators at the moment ..........
Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Interesting info about systemic spread of pesticides via 'seed dressing'..... is that an agricultural thing or does that also happen routinely in the supply of seeds from big suppliers of non-organic garden seeds? Well I guess I should read Grannybees recommended book by Dave Goulson for more info, but for now... if I only get 'organic' seeds - or only go to the smaller specialist suppliers of seeds am I effectively avoiding the dressed-with-pesticide seeds? Well I know we can't as individuals avoid a 'systemic' spread - neither can the bees - but as suggested I can try to vote with my purse.
I'll ask one of the UK seed suppliers I use a lot - Chiltern - and report back.
The other way you can "vote with your purse" is to buy local honey whenever you can (I would say this wouldn't I!!).
It will be a tad more expensive than the cheapest supermarket stuff ... but the chances are that the cheap one will have been processed to within an inch of it's life losing a lot of the good stuff.
I also think local honey tastes much nicer .... and so do the people who buy it from us. By the way ... I'm not advertising here ... we just sell our honey from an honesty box at our gate ... we're very small scale and so are most local beekeepers.
We use the proceeds from sales to help fund our hobby ... but the bees are still very much a cost centre ... great fun though!
Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Thank you Bee - I sometimes buy seeds from Special Plants and Emorsgate (will ask them what they think) - plus I agree re honey - I always buy local honey from a fellow gardener - although last year's product was so solid you had to take a chisel to it... tasted wonderful though. Trouble is you get through it VERY slowly when its difficult to get out of the jar. Full of admiration for beekeepers. I'd love to be one, just don't think I have the staying power. Perhaps it might make me a nicer person... I suspect tho', you have to be a nice, peaceful person to start with !
I wouldn't claim to be nice ... or peaceful ... but keeping bees does make you stop and think more about what you do in your garden.
If your honey goes hard then it can be softened by popping it on top of a warm aga or in an inch or two of warm (but not boiling) water.
It is often the spring honey than can crystalise .... it's perfectly OK, it just has more glucose than fructose. The thing I like about local honeys is that each one will be different .. depending on what the bees have foraged. We're just eating a lime tree honey that is to die for.
Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Posts
I don't think you can 'challenge' a garden centre for selling a particular product simply because you don't agree with the ethics. It's a business after all. A range of products is available so that customers can make their own choices.
As always - education and information is the way forward
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Apologies to Mr J. No excuse. I'm just plain horrible sometimes.
Thank you for all the suggestions and info - the science was interesting from Redwing - thanks - and I know we all do our bit and the problems lie in the use of pesticides etc in large scale agriculture rather than with gardeners.
On the subject of labelling it's been great to see that some growers (or is it the Garden centres who are behind the development?) have a bee friendly symbol on their plants. I find that very helpful - thats the sort of practice that could be made universal? It all helps to make you think the seller is doing his bit to help you make good choices for the environment. And I think that's the sort of thing I think Garden centres could do more of.... sort of subtle public information and pro- environmental campaigning - good for business too, surely?
And..sorry to go on...can anyone help with a general piece of advice about sterility? I know Erysimum Bowles purple (perennial wallflower) has a long season and is great for bees I think... I accidentally bought several with a slightly different name... Bowles Superb it might have been (not sure)... does the different different name suggest its a hybrid...and does that mean its automatically sterile and therefore not so good for bees?
Problem with buying plants from the GC ...... they may be labelled 'Bee Friendly' but may have already been treated paradoxically with systemic pesticides to get them from grower to buyer ....... and did you know that pressure treated timber - fence posts, sleepers, stuff like that - are treated with glycophosphate as part of the process ........ Very very difficult to avoid pesticides .........
Can anyone explain the death of thousands of bees due to a parasite please. There was a programme on TV last week about it.?
HI Lyn,
The parasite is varroa destructor .... some good info on this link.
http://www.friendsofthehoneybee.com/the-problem/the-varroa-destructor/
Almost the whole of the UK is affected now .... just some of the more remote parts of Scotland are currently dodging the bullet so far. So most beekeepers have to try and manage the population of mites in each hive.
Redwing has raised the issue of neonicotinoides and the effect on bees. There is some evidence that it affects the nervous system of bees and impairs their ability to navigate back to their hives after foraging. It is used as a seed dressing so is systemic.
The current ban in most of the EU (some areas of the UK are exempt) means that farmers are now using older chemicals and spraying their crops .... also bad news for the bees.
So it's a rock and a hard place for pollinators at the moment ..........
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
OH dear.
Interesting info about systemic spread of pesticides via 'seed dressing'..... is that an agricultural thing or does that also happen routinely in the supply of seeds from big suppliers of non-organic garden seeds? Well I guess I should read Grannybees recommended book by Dave Goulson for more info, but for now... if I only get 'organic' seeds - or only go to the smaller specialist suppliers of seeds am I effectively avoiding the dressed-with-pesticide seeds? Well I know we can't as individuals avoid a 'systemic' spread - neither can the bees - but as suggested I can try to vote with my purse.
Hi Annyfran L,
I'll ask one of the UK seed suppliers I use a lot - Chiltern - and report back.
The other way you can "vote with your purse" is to buy local honey whenever you can (I would say this wouldn't I!!).
It will be a tad more expensive than the cheapest supermarket stuff ... but the chances are that the cheap one will have been processed to within an inch of it's life losing a lot of the good stuff.
I also think local honey tastes much nicer .... and so do the people who buy it from us. By the way ... I'm not advertising here ... we just sell our honey from an honesty box at our gate ... we're very small scale and so are most local beekeepers.
We use the proceeds from sales to help fund our hobby ... but the bees are still very much a cost centre ... great fun though!
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Thank you Bee - I sometimes buy seeds from Special Plants and Emorsgate (will ask them what they think) - plus I agree re honey - I always buy local honey from a fellow gardener - although last year's product was so solid you had to take a chisel to it... tasted wonderful though. Trouble is you get through it VERY slowly when its difficult to get out of the jar. Full of admiration for beekeepers. I'd love to be one, just don't think I have the staying power. Perhaps it might make me a nicer person... I suspect tho', you have to be a nice, peaceful person to start with !
I wouldn't claim to be nice ... or peaceful ... but keeping bees does make you stop and think more about what you do in your garden.
If your honey goes hard then it can be softened by popping it on top of a warm aga or in an inch or two of warm (but not boiling) water.
It is often the spring honey than can crystalise .... it's perfectly OK, it just has more glucose than fructose. The thing I like about local honeys is that each one will be different .. depending on what the bees have foraged. We're just eating a lime tree honey that is to die for.
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Don't eat much honey but always buy locally produced stuff
We where going to have hives on our allotment site but local school had a plot and where not happy but they have left , will have to remind committer