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By Leon Thompson
April 27, 2015 (San Diego’s East County ) --Researchers from Queen Mary University of London recently found that bumblebees that have been infected by parasites seek out flowers with nicotine in the nectar, likely to fight off the infection, new research has found. The nicotine appears to slow the progression of disease in infected bees but has harmful effects when consumed by healthy bees.
Consumption leads to reduced appetite and shorter life-spans.
Professor Geraldine Wright, lead scientist on the study at the Institute of Neuroscience at Newcastle University wrote, “Even worse, we now have evidence that bees prefer to eat pesticide-contaminated food.”
Apparently the nicotine in the neonicotinoid pesticide effect bees like cigarettes effect humans. Professor Wright goes on to say, “the fact that bees show a preference for food containing neonicotinoids is concerning.”
The findings suggest that even if alternative food sources are provided for bees in regions where neonicotinoids are used, the bees may still prefer to feed on the contaminated crops. Another concerning factor is that neonicotinoids can also contaminate wild plants growing near human-planted crops, meaning they are a larger part of bees' diets than was previously believed.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Nature which concluded:
Public concern over the impact of neonicotinoids on bees and other important pollinators has been on the rise. This month the European Union introduced a temporary ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on flowering crops until further scientific research has been conducted on the subject.
For more go to:
http://www.hngn.com/articles/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
http://www.csmonitor.com/
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