EFSA Finalizes Guidance on Pesticide-Related Risk to Bees

Following a request from the European Commission concerning the declining
health of bees in Europe, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has
published new guidance for assessing the potential risks to bees from the use
of pesticides. Noting that a previous risk assessment for honeybees did not
fully account for risks from chronic or repeat exposure to pesticides, or the
potential risks to larvae, EFSA said that the new guidance fills these gaps, adds
schemes for bumble bees and solitary bees and proposes a new method for
assessing whether the potential harm posed to bees from the use of a plant
protection product is acceptable. “This method—which gives a more precise
assessment of acceptable loss of foragers than the existing approach—should
afford greater protection to honey bee colonies situated on the edge of fields
treated with pesticides,” said EFSA.

According to EFSA pesticide experts, the attributes to protect honey bees are
directly related to colony strength—the number of individuals in a hive—and
the scheme for honey bees evidently suggests that it is not acceptable for
colony size to fall by more than 7 percent as a result of exposure to pesticides
at any time. See EFSA News Release, July 4, 2013.

Issue 490