New bee working group being established in Ontario

The province is creating a new working group, the Ontario Pollinator Health Working Group, to look into the effect of pesticides on pollinators.

Previously, the provincial government established the Bee Health Working Group to study the risk to honey bees from exposure to neonicotinoid seed treatments.

Beekepers claimed the pesticides were killing thousands of bees.

The working group concluded using non-insecticide treated seed was a good practice and encouraged farmers to use them to reduce the risk of pollinators, like bees, from being exposed to dust containing neonicotinoids during planting.

The federal government's Pest Management Regulatory Agency is still looking into the issue as well.

If there is a ban on the pesticide, it will be the PMRA that has the authority to do so.