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AlterNet reports
A research team from the Institute of Bee Health at the University of Bern, from Agroscope at the Swiss Confederation, and from the Department of Biology at Canada's Acadia University [published the results of their study] in an article in the open-access journal Scientific Reports from the Nature Publishing Group [which concludes] that honey bee queens are "extremely vulnerable" to the neonicotinoids thiamethoxam and clothianidin.
[Reprinted in the journal Nature."]The study shows profound effects on queen physiology, anatomy, and overall reproductive success.
[...] Previous research suggests that exposure to these chemicals [causes] both lethal and sub-lethal effects on honey bee workers, but nothing has been known about how they may affect queens.
The observation that honey bee queens are highly vulnerable to these common neonicotinoid pesticides is "worrisome, but not surprising", says senior author Laurent Gauthier from the Swiss Confederation's Agroscope.
[...] Since there is only a single queen in each colony, queen health is crucial to colony survival.
[...] In 2013, governments in Europe took a precautionary approach by partially restricting the application of the neonicotinoid pesticides thiamethoxam, clothianidin, and imidacloprid, with the mandate to perform further environmental risk assessments.
A new inter-governmental review will take place in the coming months.
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EPA Finds Little Benefit to Pesticide Linked to Bee Declines
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Saturday October 31 2015, @06:19PM
Yes. We must immediately start doing research on creating GM bee's that don't need a queen.
(Score: 1) by driverless on Sunday November 01 2015, @12:29AM
Naah, just switch pesticides. I would recommend Amiton. Totally toxic to things like flies, 1,000 times less so for bees. Also it disperses fairly rapidly when applied as an aerosol so it won't be taken back to the hive.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Sunday November 01 2015, @02:17AM
Really??
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VG_%28nerve_agent%29 [wikipedia.org]
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 01 2015, @04:02AM
It sounds like a winner to me!
(Score: 1) by driverless on Sunday November 01 2015, @04:03AM
Everything I said was true, you just have to be careful not to inhale any of it yourself. Geeze, some people are so picky, I mean they had the perfect insecticide but withdrew it because of some silly Chemical Weapons Convention. Next thing you know I'll have to take the asbestos cladding off my house...
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Sunday November 01 2015, @04:18AM
Picky, picky... I once lived in a house covered in asbestos shingles: fireproof house in a wildfire area, and no real need to inhale the shingles anyway...
And now I'm wondering if it could be modified so it only affects or uptake is only by the desired targets. The pesticide, not the shingles. ;)
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Sunday November 01 2015, @03:24AM
Are you new to this planet? Switch to another product that doesn't cause the problem? Are you some kind of planet hugger?
The way we do things here on Earth is for a large corporation to create some GM bee's that aren't susceptible to the pesticide, and for bee keepers to buy new of bee's every year from that corporation. And they have to sign a contract saying they will kill 'regular' bee's on sight.