. It's rustic, superb, more to mow, special bees ... the best! 
Until May 1, you can trap queen founders of Asian hornet colonies.
After this period, you risk capturing many native species
(yellow hornets, wasps, etc.)
It will therefore be better to remove your traps
Simple traps can be made from an empty plastic bottle (1,25 liter, 1,5 liter, 2 liters)
cut in the upper third and the upper part of which will be placed upside down (and fixed by two staples) to to make funnel.
To allow small non-target insects to escape, make
small holes (about 5mm) with a piece of heated wire.
E-mail : gdsa33.frelon@orange.fr and to find out more: www.gironde.fr
The trap !!!
At the bottom of this bottle, pour:
• preferably a glass of dark beer
• a glass of white wine (which repels bees)
• a dash of syrup (blackcurrant or raspberry, ...)
This trap can be hung on a tree, preferably in the sun,
at a height of 1,50m or 2 meters (for good surveillance).
It can also be placed on a balcony.
The more traps we put, even on a small lot, the more we increase the chances of capture
dedeleco wrote:INRA on TV, by micro-geolocation studies of bees, proves very clearly that those going to rapeseed fields, with the Cruizer in the seeds when sowing rapeseed, die 2 to 3 times more than those there not going, in sublethal doses, into the collected pollen. Same with another insecticide.
29 March at the Science Express Web site of the journal Science.
In the other Science report, a French team found that exposure to another neonicotinoid pesticide impairs honeybees' homing abilities, causing many of the bees to die.
Mickaël Henry of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in Avignon, France, and colleagues tagged free-ranging honeybees with tiny radio-frequency identification or "RFID" microchips that were glued to each bee's thorax. These devices allowed the researchers to track the bees as they came and went from their hives. The researchers then gave some of the bees a sublethal dose of the pesticide thiamethoxam, which has been sold under the brand names Cruiser and Platinum.
Compared to control bees that were not exposed to the pesticide, the treated bees were about two to three times more likely to die while away from their nests. These deaths probably occurred because the pesticide interfered with the bees' homing systems, the researchers suggest.
In the second part of their study, the researchers used data from the tracking experiment to develop a mathematical model that simulated honeybee population dynamics. When the mortality caused by the homing failure was incorporated into the simulations, the model predicted that honeybee populations exposed to this pesticide should drop to a point from which it would be difficult to recover.
At the press conference, Henry said this simulation showed the bee populations could suffer "a marked decline in a matter of weeks," leaving them more susceptible to other stresses such as parasites and climate change.
The authors note that even though manufacturers are required to ensure their pesticide doses remain below lethal levels for honeybees, the studies used to determine this lethality level have probably underestimated the ways that pesticides can kill be indirectly, for example by interfering with their homing systems.
“Our study raises important issues regarding pesticide authorization procedures,” said Henry. "So far, they mostly require manufacturers to ensure that doses encountered on the field do not kill bees, but they basically ignores the consequences of doses that do not kill them but may cause behavioral disorders."
dedeleco wrote:INRA on TV, by micro-geolocation studies of bees, proves very clearly that those going to rapeseed fields, with the Cruizer in the seeds when sowing rapeseed, die 2 to 3 times more than those there not going, in sublethal doses, into the collected pollen. Same with another insecticide.
Romandie.com wrote: A widely used pesticide harms bees and bumblebees
WASHINGTON - A pesticide widely used since the 1990s is harmful to bumblebees and bees, causing orientation problems that prevent them from finding their hive or from eating properly, according to two studies - French and British - published Thursday.
The populations of bees and bumblebees, which contribute to the pollination of 80% of flowering plants producing fruits or vegetables, have declined sharply in recent years, especially in Europe and the United States.
Entomologists put forward various hypotheses to explain the phenomenon, including that of pesticides, without our understanding until now how they could act.
The French study was led by Mickaël Henry, from the National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA), and Axel Decourtye, from Acta (agricultural technical institutes). They marked 653 bees by sticking a radio-identification chip on their chest, which made it possible to follow them during their movements.
They then gave some of them a dose of thiamethoxam (family of neonicotinoids) and found that they had trouble finding their hive - the pesticide interfering with their brain geolocation system - which led to death of many of them.
Once this mortality was taken into account, a mathematical model predicted that the populations of bees exposed to the pesticide would drop to a level that would no longer allow their recovery.
In British research, conducted by Dave Goulson and Penelope Whitehorn, of the University of Stirling (UK), colonies of young bumblebees were exposed to low levels of a neonicotinoid pesticide called imidacloprid. These doses were comparable to those to which they are exposed in nature.
According to previous studies, imidacloprid does not directly cause the death of bees or bumblebees but can cause memory and orientation problems. It still had to be confirmed by a field study.
The British researchers compared the weight of the two types of nests - animals, wax, honey, larvae, pollen before and after the experiment, and found that the exposed colonies had found less food and were smaller, and that they produced 85% fewer queens - no doubt because the nurse bees did not provide enough food for the queen. There were 85% fewer nests the following year.
According to Dave Goulson, in the UK three out of 27 species of bumblebees are extinct and 7 are considered endangered.
Pesticide authorization procedures mainly ask manufacturers to ensure that doses encountered in the field do not kill bees, but they have completely neglected the consequences of non-lethal doses, which can cause behavioral problems, stressed Mickaël Henry during a press conference in Paris.
This work is published in the American journal Science dated March 30.
(© AFP / March 29 2012 20h00)
Source: ...>
Used to soften plastics, phthalates are found in the atmosphere in the form of particles which are absorbed by insects through their cuticle.
The surprise was total at the Research institute on the biology of the insect of Tours (Indre-et-Loire). Indeed, there, scientists study the ecology of ants but not their exposure to pollution. "We were stunned to discover a little by chance that these insects are all contaminated by phthalates", recognizes Alain Lenoir, professor emeritus. These molecules produced by industry enter into the composition of plastics to make them flexible and give them a shape. However, they are present in ants around the world. "In the tropical forests, in the Moroccan desert, in the mountains or in the most distant places of all human activity", adds the researcher.
One milligram of phthalates per kilo of live ant
Suddenly, Alain Lenoir and several of his colleagues published their observations in the journal The Science of the Total Environment (December 15, 2012). They wonder in particular if ants could not be good indicators for air pollution. In these social insects, chemical communication plays a very important role and their cuticle (the epidermis that covers the body of the insect) is very absorbent, especially in the abdomen. It lets the molecules that settle on the surface pass through and also easily releases substances produced by the animal outwards.
Exchanges with the environment via the cuticle are constant and rapid. The researchers from Tours found that it is enough to place an ant on the plastic platform of a microscope for a few moments for it to "load" phthalates. Conversely, ants locked for several weeks in a pot where the air has been filtered no longer have any trace of phthalates inside their body.
The levels of contamination are generally very low: around 5 nanograms (ng) per individual (1 ng = 1 billionth of a gram), or approximately 1 milligram per kg of live ant.
Phthalates are endocrine disruptors. Several studies have shown that they reduce fertility in rodents, which has raised many questions about their toxicity, especially in humans. Their use has been prohibited in toys and certain other items intended for young children.
What is their impact on small insects? No one has asked the question yet. Alain Lenoir will contact the laboratory of the National Institute for Research and Security (INRS) based in Nancy, which is studying the impact of phthalates on employees in the industries that handle them. “The ants are very resistant. They manage to detoxify themselves from substances as harmful as heavy metals, even arsenic ", underlines the researcher who admits that, if he had more means, he would look for the presence of other pollutants. “I am not surprised that the ants are contaminated with phthalates. In Europe, America and Asia, it is everywhere, in the indoor air of homes as well as in the water of rivers, "says Anne-Marie Saillenfait, of INRS. Their ubiquity is explained by the fact that they are released in the form of particles in the atmosphere. Contrary to what their rather smooth external appearance suggests, plastics degrade either by simple contact, or under the effect of light or heat.
The European Commission could propose to ban the use of certain pesticides after the "worrying" conclusions made Wednesday by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on their lethal impact on bees.
"EFSA made worrying conclusions on Wednesday on the impact of three types of products on nectar and pollen," explained Frédéric Vincent, spokesperson for Tonio Borg, European Commissioner in charge of Health and Consumers. He indicated that this opinion had been requested by the Commission.
A letter will be sent "this week" to the German group Bayer and the Swiss Syngenta, which produce the pesticides comprising the three incriminated neonicotinoids --clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam -, in particular the Cruiser OSR, to ask them to react to this report , announced Frédéric Vincent, specifying that the two groups had "until January 25 to answer".
On the other hand, the European Commission has decided to include the subject on the agenda of the meeting of the EU standing committee in charge of these issues scheduled for January 31. "The Commission, together with the Member States, will take the necessary measures", concluded the spokesperson.
Regional, but not yet general, bans
Member States have already taken measures at national level. France thus withdrew on July 29 the marketing authorization (AMM) for the Cruiser OSR used in seed treatment for rapeseed. There remains its use for corn which, although disputed, has not been definitively banned at this stage.
Italy and Germany prohibit the use of the pesticides in question only for corn, the Netherlands to treat plants that attract bees, and Slovenia for all plants. The idea of the European Commission is to lay down a course of action at EU level and to go if necessary towards a ban on the products in question.
Disoriented bees
Over the years, scientific studies have made it possible to establish that so-called "systemic" or "neonicotinoid" pesticides have a lethal impact on bees, which they disorientate to the point that some can no longer return to their hives. In about fifteen years, their mortality has increased from 5 to 30%. The beekeepers have already obtained the withdrawal of the Regent and the Gaucho (Bayer).
Manufacturers insisted on their side on the economic impact of the elimination of their pesticides. "The company is ready to cooperate with the European Commission and EU member states and develop pragmatic solutions to address the data gaps mentioned by EFSA," responded the German group.
Its agrochemicals division, Bayer CropScience, recalls that the extensive data gathered by the group "has been examined by the EU and the Member States and confirms that its products do not present any unacceptable risk". "We are convinced that EFSA's new findings do not change the quality and validity of this risk assessment," the group added.
According to him, research has shown that several factors explain the decline in the bee population, the main one being a parasitic mite of the Varroa species. “Bayer CropScience is committed to responsible use of neonicotinoids” and is investing in a program to reduce their effects on bees, the company said.
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