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Tag Archives Insecticides

A bee busily pollinates a canola flower.
Crops, News

Chemical companies pitch bug-killing options

Some environmentalists say just switching to new products won’t solve the underlying problem

By
Companies that make bug-killing chemicals and natural remedies are racing to take advantage of restrictions on neonics, blamed for harming bees and mayflies. Global sales of neonicotinoids, or neonics, were US$3.01 billion last year, accounting for almost 18 per cent of the global insecticides market, according to consultancy Phillips McDougall. Insecticide sales fell sharply year
Neonic makers respond to Health Canada actions
News

Neonic makers respond to Health Canada actions

The plan is to phase out imidacloprid while clothianidin and thiamethoxam, 
popular in seed treatments, will undergo a special review

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[Updated Dec. 9] – Several years ago when neonicotinoids were linked to bee and other pollinator deaths sparking calls to ban the insecticides, farmers and neonicotinoid makers strongly defended them. Now those products are under fire again due to their effect on aquatic insect life. Health Canada announced Nov. 23 plans to phase out imidacloprid
Rachel Parkinson (r) and Professor Jack Gray use a “video game” to study pesticide effects on insects.
Did you know?, News

Flight simulator shows pesticide effects

High-tech approach at the University of Saskatchewan uses virtual reality more common to video games


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A research project at the University of Sask­atchewan is using a virtual reality flight simulator to measure how locusts are affected by pesticides. Rachel Parkinson, a biology master’s student, is trying to see how insects react to neonicotinoids. “There is a lot of controversy over these pesticides,” said biology professor, Jack Gray, Parkinson’s supervisor. “They
Honeybee numbers and production appear to be rebounding.
Crops, News

Honeybee colonies and production are up

Mitigation measures implemented in 2014 appear to be working

By
Steps taken to protect honeybees from crop protection products appear to be working. The number of honeybee colonies and their level of production has been rising since 2013, according to testimony to the Senate agriculture committee. Andrea Johnson, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) director general of sector development told the committee the most recently available
Aphids on wheat (l) and an aphid mummy.
Crops, Local news

Alfalfa weevil levels rapidly decline, high levels of pea aphids still seen

Manitoba Insect & Disease summary for July 13

By
Summary Insects: Levels of alfalfa weevil larvae are rapidly declining in some alfalfa fields as the larvae mature to pupae. Pea aphid levels are still a concern in some pea fields. Aphid levels are being monitored carefully in some cereal fields; high levels of natural enemies have also been noted in some of these fields and may be
A new study of 75 bee colonies across Scotland suggests one of the so-called “neonics” may not be like the others in its potential risk to bumblebees.

News

Study finds not all neonics equal when it comes to risks to bees

Clothianidin, the active ingredient in Poncho and Prosper, may have got a bad rap

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A group of chemical insecticides known as neonicotinoids that has been banned in Europe due to fears about potential harm to bees has been found in new research to have very differential risks for bumblebees. Scientists who conducted the research said their findings showed that at least one neonicotinoid in the banned group — clothianidin
Entomologist Christian Krupke at the Purdue Bee Laboratory with pollen collected by Indiana honeybees.
Did you know?, News

Non-crop plants source of most pesticide contamination of bees

One of the most common sources of pollen contamination is home pest control products

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Urban landscapes may bear more responsibility for exposing bees to pesticides than previously thought. A recent study from Purdue University, published in the academic journal Nature Communications, found honeybees gathered the vast majority of pollen from non-agriculture crops and were being exposed to both agricultural and domestic pesticides. Entomologist Christian Krupke found pollen samples contained
An apiarist covers beehives on a truck after his bees completed pollinating a blueberry field near Columbia Falls, Maine in June 2014. Honeybees are estimated to pollinate plants that produce about a quarter of the food consumed by Americans, including apples, watermelons and beans.
News

Vital to food output, pollinators face rising risk

A new global study explores the concerns over pesticides and loss of habitat

By
Bees and other pollinators face increasing risks to their survival, threatening foods such as apples, blueberries and coffee worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year, the first global assessment of pollinators showed on Feb. 26. Pesticides, loss of habitats to farms and cities, disease and climate change were among threats to about 20,000 species
bee on canola flower
Comment, Crops

What does ‘science based’ mean?

Industry and government must adjust to new findings, but policies should not 
be based on the latest Internet trend

By
What does “science based” mean? For both government policy and industry best practice, science based should mean that practices are based on rigorous scientific studies. Policies and regulations that veer off the science-based path put at risk the tools that make modern agriculture possible. So do production practices that do not rigorously follow scientifically developed
Flea beetles in canola and cutworms in several crops were the main insect problems in Manitoba in 2015, but overall it wasn’t a terrible insect year for Manitoba farmers, says MAFRD entomologist John Gavloski.
Crops, Local news

Flea beetles, cutworms top list of insects bugging Manitoba farmers in 2015

Alfalfa weevils, army worms, corn borer, soybean aphids and 
lygus bugs showed up in some fields too

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Insects didn’t take a massive bite out of Manitoba crops in 2015, but there were some nibbling problems caused mainly by flea beetles and cutworms, says Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development entomologist John Gavloski. Alfalfa weevil populations were high enough in many alfalfa fields to cause economic damage and army worms were a concern

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