Honey traps

MOST gardeners know that neonicotinoids, used to control harmful insects, also damage valuable pollinators including wild populations of bees. They’re usually used in seed dressings, but these motile chemicals spread through the plant’s tissues and then contaminate pollen and nectar.

Studies have shown that, once ingested, they prompt an 85% drop in the production of queens in , the buff-tailed bumblebee, and 50% in , the red