The UK is allowing the use of a banned pesticide that can kill the bee population.
Neonicotinoid pesticides, which have been banned across the EU, are being allowed to be used, on an emergency basis, on sugar beet crops in the UK.
The pesticides damage the nervous systems and navigational abilities of bees and can also harm aquatic life. They were banned in most EU countries, including the UK, in 2018.
Thiamethoxam will be used on sugar beet this year because of the potential risk of yellow virus which can damage crops. It’s estimated up to 70 percent of the country’s sugar beet harvest could be destroyed if action isn’t taken, a government department has announced.
(Source: BBC, March 2, 2022; https://www.bbc.co.uk/science-environment-60579670)
