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Home Planet

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Factual: Science & Nature

Programme answering listeners' questions about planet Earth and our impact upon it

Home Planet: Bees, Moths and Snowdrop Bulbs

19/07/2011

Bees, Moths and Snowdrop Bulbs

BBC Radio 4 - Home Planet, Bees, Moths and Snowdrop Bulbs

Are pesticides linked to the collapse in honey bee numbers?

A relatively new type of pesticide has been implicated in the dramatic loss of honey bee colonies. But what does the latest research say about the possible link?

Over the last decade increasingly stringent rules on registering crop plants have come into force. This has squeezed out traditional crops which have all but disappeared from our shops and even gardens. On Home Planet this week, one listener wants to know what the implications are for the genetic diversity of crops, and are we at risk of losing an essential resource. 

We tackle two mysterious insect disappearances; why are there so few wasps around this summer and do particular pesticides have a role to play in the dramatic loss of honey bees. Also, how do snowdrop bulbs bury themselves so deep in the ground and we identify a mysterious insect seen in one listener's garden?

On the panel this week are entomologist Richard Jones; ecologist Dr Lynn Dicks of Cambridge University and Professor Denis Murphy, plant geneticist from the University of Glamorgan.. 

The programme is presented by Richard Daniel.


Producer: Toby Murcott 
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

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