Pesticides make baby bees lose sense of direction, scientists say
BABY bumblebees exposed to pesticides may never develop the navigation skills needed to forage for food, scientists have found.
A new study shows that when the agricultural products are brought back to the nest by older members of the colony, they cause irreversible brain damage to the young.
Experts at Imperial College London (ICL) used miniature Cat scanning technology at the Natural History Museum to examine the effects of pesticides on bees at three and 12 days after they emerged from their pupae.
The scans showed significant damage to the development of part of the brain that governs learning. The team believes this harms the insects’ ability to identify and collect pollen and nectar, partly accounting for the steep population declines of recent years.
Dr Richard Gill, who led the ICL research, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, said: “Bee colonies act as superorganisms, so when any toxins enter the colony, these have the potential to cause problems with the development of the baby bees within it.
“Worryingly in this case, when young bees are fed on pesticide-contaminated food, this caused parts of the brain to grow less, leading to older adult bees possessing smaller and functionally impaired brains.” Carbon dioxide emissions in the UK are at their lowest since 1888. a study by climate and energy website Carbon Brief has revealed. Emissions fell by 2.9 per cent in 2019 to 354 million tons, down 28 per cent since 2010.