Let grass grow longer

So that's the end of Wimbledon as we know it!

Can just imagine the beauty of "Lords" with the new country garden look...beautiful, and not to forget "St Andrews",
with a stunning array of poppies on the 18th.

Can't see much wrong with their advice. It would certainly make things easier for the bees to survive and perhaps thrive (in the hive).
I cannot comment on the effects of croft pesticides as I am unaware of the amount of pollen thus affected.
Hopefully, more 'bee-friendly' processes or fertilizers and pesticides will be developed...but 'more flowers' works straight away

Yes, it's good advice.

Aye, but with a name like yours I suspect an ulterior motive! 

If pesticides are harmful and pollinating insects are in decline, how come more food is now grown and more people now fed than anyone could ever have imagined seventy years ago?

There's ALWAYS someone who just wants to be difficult!

Is it me?

No it's not ( as long as you agree with me )

Facts,
They don't use pesticides to try to make the crops taste better.
They also cost money to use and farmers don't throw money away,
We'd be in a mess without pesticides.

So, go easy with the mower and put marmalade on your toast instead of  honey.
Stop stealing from the bees.

If I were a bee I'd sting you.

Buzzz - sting sting.

No bees no crops - simple !

Oh, and by the way Dr C. - let me help you with your education.

Only female bees can sting.

^^Really, they all look the same to me.

I'd bite you instead then.

Oh, and by the way Dr C. - let me help you with your education.

Only female bees can sting.

Pretty much like us then.

We share a common ancestor.

I agree with Ivor.

Facts 04 Nov 14 18:19 Joined: 05 May 03 | Topic/replies: 15,583 | Blogger: Facts's blog
No bees no crops - simple !

Flies, wasps, butterflies and moths are all pollinators.

The world produces 17% more food per person today than it did 30 years ago, and that figure is still rising despite a rising human population and, we are told, a declining bee population.

Something about these continual calls to starve the poor by banning pesticides in order to save the bees does not add up.

Different insects pollinate different plants.

I suspect that most of the increase in food supply is grain which is wind pollinated.
The big increases achieved over the last century have been because of the invention of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers and the mechanisation of farming.The excess nitrogen compounds washing out into rivers and the sea is causing further environmental issues.

We could increase food supply further and reduce the use of pesticides and nitrogen fertilisers by expanding the use of GM crops. As the world population increases this is becoming even more urgent.

screaming from beneaththewaves     04 Nov 14 18:55 
Facts 04 Nov 14 18:19 Joined: 05 May 03 | Topic/replies: 15,583 | Blogger: Facts's blog
No bees no crops - simple !

Flies, wasps, butterflies and moths are all pollinators


All of which are obviously at risk with the continued rise in the use of pesticides.

The "Greens" get everything wrong.
No nuclear and no GM crops they have been singing for years.
Now we have even more carbon dioxide, the threat of power cuts and the decline of pollinating insects.
Time they changed their tunes.

But is it really urgent? For the last 20 years the rate of food production has increased faster than the rate of population growth. We are reaping the benefits of the global increase in vegetation thanks to rising levels of carbon dioxide and the warm and stable temperatures of the last two decades.

And there is so much land which could produce food, but we prefer to leave it to lawn or patio. I think back to growing up on a housing estate in Slough in the 1960s and every single garden had one or two apple trees and grew enough vegetables to keep a family self-sufficient. The last time I visited 8 years ago every apple tree had disappeared and been replaced by hard standing.

There are issues with nutritional quality in staples on which the world's poor depend, such as rice, which we know for sure would be solved by genetically modified alternatives, hence my anger at well-fed Western Greenpeacers blocking the introduction of Golden Rice, for instance.

But the other issue, of food distribution and getting the abundant food into the stomachs of those that need it, might not be helped by having to pay annually for GM seeds which cannot be saved for next year.

The wind spreads pollen as well.

GM probably not appropriate for subsistence farmers screaming. The large producers could increase output and use less chemicals without bringing virgin land under cultivation so less pressure on the environment and wildlife. Water use is also an issue and I think that some GM crops can help with this too.