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Study: Roundup Weed Killer Could Be Linked To Widespread Bee Deaths
The controversial herbicide Roundup has been accused of causing cancer in humans and now scientists in Texas argue that the world's most popular weed killer could be partly responsible for killing off bee populations around the world.
A new study [open, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1803880115] [DX] by scientists at the University of Texas at Austin posit that glyphosate — the active ingredient in the herbicide — destroys specialized gut bacteria in bees, leaving them more susceptible to infection and death from harmful bacteria.
Researchers Nancy Moran, Erick Motta and Kasie Raymann suggest their findings are evidence that glyphosate might be contributing to colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon that has been wreaking havoc on honey bees and native bees for more than a decade.
Also at Science Magazine.
Related:
Landmark Study: Honeybee Queens Severely Affected by Neonicotinoid Pesticides
Cancer Hazard vs. Risk - Glyphosate
Glyphosate Linked to Liver Damage
Extensive Study Concludes Neonicotinoid Pesticides Harm Bees
Lithium Chloride May Help in Fixing Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
European Regulator Finds That Neonicotinoid Pesticides Threaten Bees
Monsanto Faces First US Trial Over Roundup Cancer Link
Monsanto Ordered to Pay $289 Million in Glyphosate Cancer Trial
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday September 26 2018, @11:11PM (10 children)
Keep bees yourself.
From time to time a new queen will be born then will leave the hive in search of an unused one. Wild bees are good for farmers too.
To keep bees is quite cool. My father was a beekeeper as was his mother. I plan to keep bees myself but am not doing so yet because I must dig myself out from under the many commitments I made and so far have delayed acting on.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday September 26 2018, @11:34PM
I did. I kept bees in my car one spring. It worked alright for a little while. But, they never built a beehive. Then, I returned to my car one hot day, and found their dried up husks on the rear deck, all scrunched up against the window. That was the end of that.
(Score: 5, Funny) by bzipitidoo on Thursday September 27 2018, @12:25AM (2 children)
There's no way I could keep bees. Got family members who are mortally afraid scared of being stung and suffering a fatal allergic reaction. Even without that, I suspect the neighbors in this suburban "paradise" would do all they could to kill the bees and harass me for trying to keep them. I'd probably be reported to the city and told I must destroy the hives or face thousands in fines for violating dozens of city ordinances. At least I don't have to deal with a home owners association, but if there was one, I suspect they'd take a real dim view of anyone who tried to keep bees.
Maybe someday I'll be able to set up and use a clothesline.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday September 27 2018, @02:28AM
But that doesn't mean they don't forbid them anyway, rather it means the plaintiff can be confident they'll prevail when they sue their HOA.
My friend the paralegal is completely convinced that it's legal to drive in Oregon without a driver's license. He speaks of this frequently.
"That may be so, but it won't prevent your getting arrested. Rather it means that you'll win on appeal."
It happens that in the city of portland, public parks are required to be equipped with an iron ring:
To tie your horse to.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by dwilson on Thursday September 27 2018, @03:41PM
Get some leafcutter bees, then. Or mason bees.
No queen, no hive. Independent insects, but still 'bees'. They sting, but it's not much worse than a mosquito bite. They bite too, and that's worse than their sting. But they don't sting or bite unless -seriously- provoked. Like, it happened to fly near your torso while your arm was in the air, and you lowered your arm, trapping it against your body with no way out.
Anything short of that, they are live and let live. I've stood in the middle of a swarm so thick I could hardly see daylight, and they didn't even care.
Then I started switching out the full nesting blocks for empty ones, and one was under my hand as it came down. He cared quite a bit. His buddies didn't, though. Cute lil' buggers really.
- D
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Thursday September 27 2018, @05:01AM (1 child)
Do you keep bees? I've been debating starting but I already have enough hobbies. I'm now thinking that perhaps I should build a beehive as a winter woodworking project, and see if wild bees colonize it. My house is next to a suburban riparian area so I could encroach the hive on public land.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday September 27 2018, @06:00AM
You'll be able to attract wild bees if your frames are equipped with honeycomb foundation. It's a sheet of beeswax that has the hex grid molded into it
Bees can smell that stuff a mile away
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday September 27 2018, @06:35AM (3 children)
Keep bees?
Why no keep As instead. I am disappoint.
After beeing left alone for years, recently bees went twice to relocate in my garden. The arrival is epic because the place is relatively small and the sky gets filled with bees and after 5 minutes all is quiet and a blob of bees is on the wall. Here they are protected and a beekeeper went to collect them that same night.
Second time they went for the bamboo plants stayed there a bit then went away.
When we were visited by hornets, that was scary.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday September 27 2018, @08:04AM
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45566304 [bbc.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 27 2018, @10:56AM
> When we were visited by hornets ...
Here in the 'burbs we have what are locally called "ground bees", but these are yellow/black striped wasps. They nest in the ground, behind small rock walls around garden beds. If they are close to the house, this is a problem--I know someone that almost died from massive stings when they stepped on a nest. I hate to use poison, so I vacuum them out. Turns out I'm not the only one, there are several videos on YouTube. In my case I have an old smaller shop vac, set the end of the wand near the opening to the nest and leave it on during the warm part of the day when the wasps are active. Might take a few days before the hive is below critical size and dies.
Cost is low, electricity here is USD $0.12/kwh and the vac uses about 500 watts-- 6 cents/hour. Much cheaper than insecticide packaged for home use.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Thursday September 27 2018, @08:06PM
"all is quiet and a blob of bees is on the wall."
I quite like how this was written.