{"id":8218,"date":"2020-09-04T09:15:21","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T08:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8218"},"modified":"2020-09-04T09:15:38","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T08:15:38","slug":"commentaries-on-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8218","title":{"rendered":"Commentaries On Nature"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nature Notes<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Commentaries on Nature will always be something of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

So let’s start at the grimmer end of the spectrum. Neonicotinoids are a form of insecticide widely used in the 1990s but when evidence became clear that they were killing bees they were banned in the European Union in 2018. What does history tell us? It took 30 years to ban DDT before it was proved that what was believed to be safe just wasn’t. It took 24 years to ban neonicotinoids and 50 to ban chlorothalonil. But the salmon-farming industry in Scotland are now seeking to have approved a new pesticide, Ectosan, which includes imidacloprid, one of the banned neonicotinoids. One teaspoon of imidacloprid could kill one and a quarter billion bees. You can read more about this topic in British Wildlife, August issue.<\/p>\n

On a happier note, our Gabalva apple tree in the Goldsland Orchard is bearing fruit – see photo. This local apple, introduced by no less than the Treseder family in 1901 was until a few years ago thought to be extinct. In 2006 the National History Museum at St Fagans considered it ‘lost’. But it must have been rediscovered as a number of fruit suppliers now have it on offer. Described as having yellowish flesh and being somewhat dry and spicy, the apples are quite large as are many of the older varieties. Gabalva is believed to derive from the Welsh Ceubalfa or ‘place of the boat’ as it was once the site of a ferry crossing across the Taff. We shall return to the topic of apples and their history in future issues<\/p>\n

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Nature Notes Commentaries on Nature will always be something of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. So let’s start at the grimmer end of the spectrum. Neonicotinoids are a form of insecticide widely used in the 1990s but when evidence became clear that they were killing bees they were banned in the European Union in 2018. What does history […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-28y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13188,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13188","url_meta":{"origin":8218,"position":0},"title":"NATURE NOTES","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd July 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"NATURE NOTES \u00a0 We are often asked about the effects of artificial lawns on wildlife. The benefits in terms of maintenance etc. are understood and promoted in advertising by plastic grass suppliers. However recently the Royal Horticultural Society published an article summarising the less welcome effects these can have on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Picture3.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Picture3.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Picture3.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":155,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=155","url_meta":{"origin":8218,"position":1},"title":"Nature Notes","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th July 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 The photo shows a bee gathering pollen from a Borage plant in Grange Park in the middle of Wenvoe. Why is this important? The last and previous issues of Whats On have highlighted the many problems our bees are facing and if our bees are in difficulties we\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wentest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/AUG-ps-81-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5860,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=5860","url_meta":{"origin":8218,"position":2},"title":"Pollinators Are In Serious Decline","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th May 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Pollinators Are In Serious Decline Everyone knows that pollinators, i.e. insects that pollinate our flowers and crops, are in serious decline and we are being encouraged to do everything possible to help them, not least by planting flowers, shrubs and trees that can supply accessible pollen. Typical of the advice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Bee-on-Limnanthes-6-15-Comm-Orchard-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14955,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14955","url_meta":{"origin":8218,"position":3},"title":"Amazing Photo Of A Honeybee Nest","author":"Alan Williams","date":"14th December 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Amazing Photo Of A Honeybee Nest\u00a0 Sent in by a resident was this amazing photo of a Honeybee nest in the wild. A local beekeeper pointed out that this will probably not survive the winter. Bee colonies in a hive and sheltered from the elements stand a fair chance of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Picture9-222x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13729,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13729","url_meta":{"origin":8218,"position":4},"title":"Some Depressing Reading","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st October 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Some Depressing Reading The recent national State of Nature report makes some depressing reading as the following stats indicate Across the UK species studied have declined on average by 19% since 1970 Farmland bird species in the UK have, on average, seen their numbers fall by more than a half\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6032,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6032","url_meta":{"origin":8218,"position":5},"title":"Return of the Oxeye Daisies","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th June 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Visitors to the Upper Orchid Field may have noticed that we are beginning to see the return of the Oxeye Daisies. People who remember the field over 50 years ago often comment on the fact that Oxeye Daisies carpeted the slope. They are still only there in small numbers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Oxeye-Daisy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8218"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8218"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8220,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8218\/revisions\/8220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}