Wright of Newcastle University, in England, gave bumblebees and honeybees a choice between drinking a sugar solution laced with low doses of a neonicotinoid—either clothianidin, imidacloprid, or thiamethoxam—and a sugar solution without any pesticides. The scientists found that the bees actually preferred the pesticide-laced solutions.
by Britt E. Erickson | April 23, 2015
Now the epigenetic mark has been shown to also correlate with the behavior of honeybee nurses and foragers. For the first time, researchers have associated patterns of DNA methylation in an organism with reversible behavior—in the case of honeybees, the ability of nurses to switch to foragers and then back to nurses, explains Andrew P.
by Sarah Everts | September 21, 2012
—Court Bans Pesticide, Cites Bee Toxicity “” A federal court in New York has banned the pesticide spirotetramat, which environmental groups say is potentially toxic to honeybees. The ruling makes it illegal to sell the pesticide, manufactured by Bayer CropScience under the trade names Movento and Ultor, in the U.S. beginning on Jan. 15.
by Britt E. Erickson | January 11, 2010
A petition filed in March alleges that clothianidin poses an “imminent hazard” to honeybees. EPA agrees that clothianidin is “acutely toxic” to a range of insects, including bees. But the agency says there is no evidence that bees are being exposed to levels of the insecticide that would cause serious declines in the population.
by Glenn Hess | July 30, 2012
—Worker Bees’ Chemical Castration “Biochemistry: Compound in food fed to worker bee larvae interferes with ovary development” Female honeybee larvae have two possible fates. Larvae raised as potential queens are nourished with royal jelly, a dish containing the protein royalactin. Female larvae destined to become worker bees receive royal jelly for just three days: Then their diet switches to honey and beebread, a fermented pollen product produced by bees.
by Sarah Everts | August 31, 2015
., to point out (and supply) a paper on the behavior of foraging honeybees [Nature, 403, 537 (2000)]. The authors are Elizabeth A. Capaldi of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and her colleagues there and in England. In his commentary on the Capaldi paper, Thomas Collett of the University of Sussex, England, notes that foraging honeybees may range as far as 10 km from the hive to reach a foraging site and then must find their way home.
May 01, 2000
SHORT FEELING STUNG Verroa mites, agricultural practices may explain the declining honeybee population. Crop protection companies are facing down charges from French government authorities that their pesticides are responsible for the serious decline in populations of the humble honeybee, Apis mellifera.
April 12, 2004
C&EN: BUSINESS - SAVING THE BEES April 19, 2004 Volume 82, Number 16 p. 16 SAVING THE BEES Chemical companies mull treatments to protect both buzzy pollinators and crops PATRICIA SHORT Crop protection companies are facing down charges from French government authorities that their pesticides are responsible for the serious decline in populations of the humble honeybee, Apis mellifera. GETTING STUNG Varroa mites and agricultural practices may explain the declining honeybee population. PHOTO BY SCOTT BAUER/USDA In February, the French Ministry of Agriculture temporarily suspended the sale of products containing the active ingredient fipronil, and there were also fears raised about the active ingredient imidacloprid.
by PATRICIA SHORT | April 19, 2004