Three neonicotinoid seed treatments are now banned in EU for few years. 
Some are saying that if our bee losses don’t disappear or go a lot down, 
this is because neonics are still to blame as not all of them are 
banned.

But I see that if losses continue after this ban, we can say that these 
seed treatments did not have an affect. Before the ban they were said to 
be a big reason. After the bans we should see the difference if this was 
true.

Biggest problem will be how to see if the losses go down or not. I don’t 
know of any study trying to see in this other than made by COLOSS winter 
losses collection. The EU is not putting money into this unless they 
continue the bee disease and winter loss study that was started 2012. 
But I have not heard of any continuation. This study involves 3 visits 
to apiarys/ year in many EU countries. 2 in summer and 1 next spring. 
Wintering losses are calculated and samples taken for the most common 
bee diseases + visual checking of hives.

How can we tell if there is difference to the bee health for banning 
seed treatments?

Ari Seppälä
beekeeping advicer
Finland

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