Bee keepers - Feeding bees - beware

The following is from an email from the Wiltshire Bee keepers Association

SILVER SPOON BEET SUGAR compared to SILVER SPOON CANE SUGAR

It is reported that neonicotinoid pesticides are being widely used in the spraying of English sugar beet crops. If you plan to feed sugar syrup to your bees this autumn then you might want to check that the sugar you are using is cane sugar and not beet sugar, at least until such time as this latest pesticide concern has been further investigated.

Neonicotinoids have been widely blamed for killing huge numbers of bees and may well be a significant contributory factor to CCD, if not the cause.

Part 2
Several people have asked me for more information about neonicotinoidpesticides and how to avoid them. Google will reveal extensive informationon this topic, and to save you some time, I have compiled some of the moreuseful-looking material into a library at http://www.biobees.com/library/?dir=pesticides_GM_threats - feel free todownload anything from here.

A number of people have asked if they should use organically grown sugar. As a supporter of organic farming, I would love to say an unequivocal 'yes', but apart from the considerable extra cost, I have yet to see any really'white' organic sugar - it always seems to have a slightly brown tinge,which may indicate the presence of residues that may cause digestiveproblems to the bees. I don't know the answer to this one, but whenconsidering feed, we have to remember that we are trying to mimic nectar,which essentially comprises sucrose, glucose and fructose in variedproportions, plus a sprinkling of trace minerals. Refined, white cane sugarmay be as close as we can get at reasonable cost.

Finally, consider this warning from a German beekeeper, in a statement tothe Apimondia gathering in Freiburg. (Clothianidin is another neonicotinoid,closely related to Imidacloprid):"In Germany clothianidin is used since 2004. It is used as seed protectionfor sugar beets and corn. As well as for fumigation of barns and stables. Itaccrues as decomposition product of other pesticides.Already in some regions the concentration in the soil is that high, thatbee-keeping is not possible any more in such regions. It's alarming thatbutter-flies, hoverflies, chrysopids and many other beneficial insects areeliminated or respectively almost eliminated."Read the full text here: http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1711

There is a growing movement to have the neonicotinoids banned in the UK, asis the case in several other European countries. They are extremelydangerous to bees and all other insects, and thus the birds and otheranimals that rely on insects for food. I urge you to take this threatseriously: only by acting in unison can we counteract the massive financialvested interests behind the promotion of these poisons.