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Price Turfcare success at BTME

January 20, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

Price Turfcare, a newly established business founded by Ransomes Jacobsen’s former International Sales Director, Rupert Price, had a very successful launch at the recent BTME Conference and Exhibition in Harrogate. Commenting on the final day of the event, Rupert Price said, “I can honestly say that we could not have had a better launch pad […]

More Evidence Neonics Inhibit Social Behaviour

January 20, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

Exposure to neonicotinoid (neonic) insecticides leads to a decrease in pollination frequency and fewer social interactions in bumblebees, according to research published by scientists from Harvard University and University of California, Davis. The study, released last year but presented lastweek at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology’s annual meeting, underscores the need for regulators […]

Price Turfcare success at BTME

January 20, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

More Evidence Neonics Inhibit Social Behaviour

January 20, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

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Price Turfcare success at BTME

January 20, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

Commenting on the final day of the event, Rupert Price said,
“I can honestly say that we could not have had a better launch pad for the business than what we have experienced over the past three days. It’s great to be back in the heart of the industry and I have received many good wishes from former colleagues, former competitors and customers during the event.

“It was manic getting everything together for the show in such a contracted timescale, but BTME was too good an opportunity to miss. Jim Croxton and the BIGGA team have been fantastic and incredibly supportive and I thank them for that.

“However, by far and away, the best part has been how well the Ventrac product has been received by potential customers and prospective dealers. Our aim was to get the product known and appoint dealers to cover the UK and this has exceeded all my expectations. We’ve had serious enquiries across the groundscare sector and significant interest from a major hire company. Seven dealers have been appointed and now the hard work begins following up all of the enquiries from the show.

“I must also thank Tim Jeffries from Ventrac who flew in from Ohio to support the launch. His product knowledge has been invaluable when talking to prospective customers and distributors. Ventrac have made a leap of faith by giving my fledgling business the distribution rights for UK and Ireland and I hope he can report back that the decision is wholly justified.

“We’ve done what we set out to do this week and now the hard work really begins. I can’t wait to get out there and begin getting these products into the marketplace.”

More Evidence Neonics Inhibit Social Behaviour

January 20, 2017/in Press Release/by Admin

The study, released last year but presented lastweek at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology’s annual meeting, underscores the need for regulators and policy makers to eliminate use of these chemicals, not only to protect honey bees, but also wild pollinators like the bumblebee.

While worker bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) divide their tasks within the colony in a similar manner to honey bees, their nests appear quite different than their more structured cousins. “Bumblebee nests are not the organized, beautiful geometry of the honeybee,” said James Crall, PhD candidate in Harvard’s Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. Instead, “They’re more a hodge-podge of food and larvae in a pile in the middle of the nest space.”

For their study, researchers placed four bumblebee colonies in a mesh enclosed area, tagged each bee, and observed them foraging on tomato flowers grown in a pollinator-excluding greenhouse (to ensure bees had freshly-opened flowers for pollination each day). After observing normal behavior, bees within each colony were then randomly assigned to ingest increasing levels of the neonic imidacloprid (0, 0.0515, 0.515, or 5.15 ng of imidacloprid, respectively). Results show that workers exposed to imidacloprid tend to move toward the outside edge of the nest and spend less time caring for their brood (young).

Pollination by individual workers is also significantly affected by imidacloprid exposure, with pollinating worker bees less likely to resume foraging after being exposed. The morphology of the tomato flower makes it nearly impossible to be successfully pollinated by honey bees. Instead, bumblebees (and certain other wild pollinators) “sonicate,” or buzz tomato plants by producing a vibration that shakes loose the plant’s pollen. But researchers found that even at low and modest doses (0.515, or 5.15 ng) neonic exposure makes pollination significantly less likely.

To read the full article, click here

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Price Turfcare success at BTME

More Evidence Neonics Inhibit Social Behaviour

Price Turfcare success at BTME

More Evidence Neonics Inhibit Social Behaviour

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Price Turfcare success at BTME

More Evidence Neonics Inhibit Social Behaviour

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