RoundUp Herbicide Glyphosate Impairs Honeybee Sensory and Cognitive Abilities

A new review of the scientific literature has found that exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in glyphosate herbicides like Roundup, impairs the foraging behaviour of honeybee workers and has adverse effects at different levels within the colony. Key points from the review include: * In 2015, of the 179.9 million ha of global GMO crop area, about 84% contained crops that carried herbicide-resistant genes. Most GMO crops are engineered for tolerance to glyphosate herbicides. * Glyphosate herbicides are also used on many non-GMO crops and in non-farm environments. * Honeybees' ingestion of food containing high concentrations of glyphosate resulted in a higher proportion of disoriented foragers. Despite this, honeybees continued foraging from resources that contain glyphosate traces. These sublethal effects on their learning abilities could impact not only the foraging efficiency, but also the coordination of collective activities within the colony. * Honeybees' ability to establish an association between an odour and a sucrose reward was impaired by an acute exposure to glyphosate. * There is evidence that glyphosate diminishes short-term memory retention in honeybees. * Honeybee colonies that are permanently exposed to glyphosate are likely to show a deficit in information propagation and nectar distribution. * Glyphosate causes changes in gut microbiota and greater susceptibility to pathogens and malnutrition.

Study: Glyphosate Weed-killer Spreading to Bee Larvae and Threatening World’s Bee Supplies

A new study has been published out of Argentina showing how bee exposure to the herbicide glyphosate is affecting the development of honey bee broods. Published in PLOS One, the title of the study is Glyphosate affects the larval development of honey bees depending on the susceptibility of colonies. Most of the world's bee supplies are used to pollinate crops by professional bee keepers. Previous studies have already confirmed that glyphosate is affecting the health of bees. This current study from Argentina suggests the problem may be more serious than first known, as it is affecting bee larvae in bee broods as they develop, and not just adult bees. It also means that most of the world's honey supply is also contaminated with glyphosate, since most commercial honey products, including "local" honey, is the product of bees being used to pollinate crops.

Is Monsanto’s ‘Cure’ For World Hunger Cursing The Global Food Supply?

What if the very GM agricultural system that Monsanto claims will help to solve the problem of world hunger depends on a chemical that kills the very pollinator upon which approximately 70% of world's food supply now depends? A new study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology titled, "Effects of field-realistic doses of glyphosate on honeybee appetitive behavior," establishes a link between the world's most popular herbicide – aka Roundup – and the dramatic decline in honeybee populations in North American and Europe that lead to the coining of the term 'colony collapse disorder.'

Scientists Discover Fungicide and Pesticide are Killing Bees―and It’s Worse Than You Thought

Researchers analyzed pollen from bee hives and found 35 different pesticides along with high fungicide loads. Each sample contained, on average, nine different pesticides and fungicides, although one contained 21 different chemicals. While previously assumed to be safe for bees, bees fed pollen contaminated with high levels of fungicides had a significant decline in the ability to resist infection with the Nosema ceranae parasite, which has been implicated in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). In the US, the “Save America’s Pollinators Act” has been introduced; if passed, this bill, HR 2692, would require the EPA to pull neonicotinoid pesticides, also implicated in bee die-offs, from the market until their safety is proven.

Collecting a Wild Honeybee Swarm Not Treated with Medication or Insecticides to Create a Stronger Gene Pool

Beekeeper, Matt Reed, surveying honeybee nest
by Cooking Up a Story
 

In this video, beekeeper Matt Reed demonstrates how to collect a wild honeybee swarm. Reed does not treat his bees with any chemicals, but relies instead upon natural selection (those bees that survive without any treatments) to confer their genetic resistance to disease and parasite infection. By maintaining […]