Bees ‘dying quickly’ in polluted cities

A LARGE proportion of bees living in the world’s most polluted areas are dying quickly, scientists have revealed.

Research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that 80 per cent of the bees studied in highly polluted areas of India died within 24 hours.

Scientists at the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore who studied 1,800 wild bees across India found that giant Asian honey bees from more polluted areas of the city of Bangalore exhibited lower flower visitation rates than in less polluted areas.

Although the study was conducted on just one bee species, scientists believe the same could be true for pollinators across the world, as previous studies under laboratory conditions have found a range of insects are sensitive to air pollution.

London’s air pollution is below that of most Indian cities, but still frequently breaks EU air quality limits each year and has multiple days of high air pollution annually.

Bees from more polluted areas also showed significant differences in heart rhythmicity, blood cell count and the expression of genes coding for stress, immunity and metabolism.

India is the world’s largest fruit producer and the second largest vegetable producer, and 75 per cent of the country’s crop depends on pollinators. The news that polluted air could have an impact on the bee population was therefore worrying experts.