Even Low Levels of Pesticides Affect Bees' Behavior

Bees that are exposed to even minute levels of pesticides experience changes in behavior that affects their work, a new study reported.

The study, conducted by scientists at Royal Holloway University, found that the presence of any pesticide in the environment, even the ones that don't target bees can set-off a stress response in the insects, which leads to fall of the bee-colony.

"One in three mouthfuls of our food depend on bee pollination," said Dr John Bryden from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway and lead author of the study. "By understanding the complex way in which colonies fail and die, we've made a crucial step in being able to link bee declines to pesticides and other factors, such as habitat loss and disease which can all contribute to colony failure."

Since 2006, beekeepers across the U.S. have been reporting  a strange disorder affecting bees- the colony collapse disorder (CCD). Bees affected by this malady never come back to the colony after foraging.

The present study is just one of the many researches that have shown a link between pesticide (and herbicide) use in fields and disappearing honey bees. Previous research on bees has mostly focused on insecticides containing Neonicotinoid. The European Union has even imposed a two-year ban on some pesticides.

A recent study had shown that diesel fumes were messing with bees' ability to smell flowers.

"Exposing bees to pesticides is a bit like adding more and more weight on someone's shoulders. A person can keep walking normally under a bit of weight, but when it gets too much - they collapse. Similarly, bee colonies can keep growing when bees aren't too stressed, but if stress levels get too high the colony will eventually fail," added Dr Bryden in a news release.