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The Most Popular Weed Killer Has a Previously Unknown Effect on Bumblebees
- car_analogy 4y agoRelated, I can't remember where I heard this, so take it with a grain of salt (Or if you're feeling helpful, find a source. I could not.), but I was told of an industry funded study on the effects of neonicotinoids on bees, that did not find any ill effects. They did this by using two fields, one that was sprayed with neonicotinoids, and one that was not, and found that bee colony health did not differ between the colony next to the sprayed field, and the one next to the control. The problem was the fields were separated by only about 100 meters, so both colonies grazed on both fields. The other trick is conducting studies when/where Varroa mites are less prevalent. It is believed that neonicotinoids harm bees by impairing their resistance to these mites (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44207-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44207-1), so if the mites are not present, no ill effect is found.
- lostlogin 4y agoI find it hard to believe anyone with even a passing knowledge of bees would set up a study like that that by accident. Every book on bees gives a rough forage range and it’s in the top 5 or 6 questions every kid asks when they get to question a bee keeper.
- car_analogy 4y agoNo one said it was an accident.