Bees
Please can we highlight that bulbs are produced with chemicals and pesticides which means they are poisonous to bees. Because they are early flowering the bees are looking to them for food when they first wake up. I can't believe all the articles on Spring bulbs don't mention this. Buy organic!
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Hi Jemima, and welcome to the forum
In principle, hear hear. But I can't see a way for the pesticide to get from the outside of the scale leaves (which is where it's applied) to the nectar and pollen (which is where it would have to be for the bees to get at it.
Unless someone can educate me....
Hi Steve, if you put 'bees poisoned bulbs' the Telegraph gives a full explanatio.
Sorry I meant put that into a search engine.
Hi Steve, if you put 'bees poisoned bulbs' the Telegraph gives a full explanatio.
Fair enough. I consider myself educated. Neonicotinoids are indeed the devil's work and should be banned.
It still doesn't explain the mechanism of transport across the dead outer scale leaves into the living tissue.....
Maybe the stuff is injected into the bulbs, but that would be massively labour-intensive and hence expensive.
That makes sense - thanks. I'll check next time.
Whatever they put on bulbs, particularly hyacinths, is an irritant. I never touch them without gloves
I wonder if that acts as a natural fungicide/insecticide?