A new study tries to zero in on what's killing, shocking, perhaps soon agriculturally-crippling, numbers of bees. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this latest research on what's behind colony collapse disorder finds it's a whole hell of a lot of things: chemicals not commonly thought to be overly hurtful to bees are dangerous; chemicals are making bees more susceptible to parasites; and banning one class of pesticides is really just one part of the solution. Basically: it's all of chemically-intensive modern agriculture.
That last sentence may veer towards overstatement and oversimplification, but it's not really off the mark. The researchers from the University of Maryland and the USDA found, after collecting pollen from hives on the East Coast that had been pollinating a variety of crops and giving it to healthy bees, is that those healthy bees become less able to resist a common bee parasite that is already implicated in colony collapse disorder.
In the collected pollen, scientists detected 35 different pesticides, as well as high levels of fungicides. Conventional wisdom on fungicides has it that they are fairly safe for honey bees. However, this study finds "an increased probability of parasite infection in bees that consumed pollen with a higher fungicide load."
The research, conducted by US Department of Agriculture and University of Maryland scientists, was published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Announcements
Vacancies
- Head Grower Strawberries, Australia
- Growing Manager for Hydroponic strawberry producer
- Farm Manager Costa Rica
- Regional Sales Manager Fresh Produce
- Head Grower Strawberries, Norway
- Export Trade Manager
- Business Developer - Northern Europe
- Orchard Sector Manager
- Grower
- International Citrus Account Manager
"Bees are dying from "non lethal" fungicides"
Publication date:
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2023-09-25 Can cucumbers be used as ant repellant?
- 2023-09-22 Quarantine pests found in melon and tomato shipments from Uzbekistan in the Orenburg region
- 2023-09-20 Combined predator/parasite strategy optimizes aphid control in strawberry
- 2023-09-20 Powdery Mildew on field-grown tomatoes
- 2023-09-14 Russia: ToBRFV detected in a batch of imported tomatoes and peppers
- 2023-09-14 Corteva launches nematicide that protects soil health
- 2023-09-13 'Thrips parvispinus' threatens Almeria's pepper crops
- 2023-09-13 US: USDA to conduct facility certification visits to offshore greenhouses
- 2023-09-11 Farmers worry harvest backlog may affect tomato crop
- 2023-09-11 US: Recycling pesticide containers in Vermont
- 2023-09-11 "Swirski-Mite helps you stay in control"
- 2023-09-08 Biobest signs agreement to acquire Biotrop in Brazil
- 2023-09-08 Russia: More than 21 thousand tons of vegetables were controlled in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic
- 2023-09-08 Purdue University’s College of Agriculture joins the International Phytobiomes Alliance
- 2023-09-07 Controlling algae in nurseries: the green monster
- 2023-09-06 Certis Belchim partners with Clever BioScience
- 2023-09-04 Fusarium wilt found in Irish greenhouse lettuce
- 2023-09-01 "New strain of green peach aphid Myzus persicae needs more aggressive beneficial insects"
- 2023-08-29 CAN: New insecticide to manage aphids and whiteflies granted registration
- 2023-08-28 Tomatoes: "The Nesidiocoris has turned into a plant-eating bug"
