The Earth Story

A study published in December 2013, in the journal Ecosphere, has discovered bees making their homes out of bits of plastic waste.

Every year, us humans disregard an enormous amount of waste; plastic proving especially vexing. Plastic is cheap and useful but also, for the most part, cannot be biodegraded; or if they can be, it is a very slow process. This durability ensures that plastic wastes are in abundance in landfills, our streets and the natural environment. The discovery that bees are utilising our waste is both sad and impressive; they have adapted to find a silver lining to our irresponsibility.

The researchers, from the University of Guelph in Ontario, watched hives of the alfalfa leaf cutting bees (Megachile rotundata). They noted that the busy bees replaced an average of 23 percent of their traditional, leafy building material with scraps of plastic bags - these nests are literally part plastic blag.

The researchers suggests that the abundance of plastic in urban areas could create a new branch in the evolutionary tree; separating city-dwelling bees who have learned to work within a human environment from their more rural cousins.

By no means should we justify our consumerism and waste by stating that creatures adapt, but, it’s hard not to be amazed by the resilience shown by these bee populations.

-Jean

Study and image credit: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/ES13-00308.1

Original caption:

Pesticides Kill Even More Honey Bees

It’s not an unusual sight to see trucks trailing clouds of pesticides in part of South Carolina. Last Sunday, an airplane flew over Dorchester County spraying Naled in the early hours of the morning. County officials claim they provided plenty of warning before dispensing the chemicals from above.

Naled is a common insecticide delivering death to mosquitoes on contact. Reportedly, the chemical is not a hazard to humans as it dissipates quickly, though exposure during spraying “should not occur.” According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Naled has been used in the United States since 1959. More than six million acres were fumigated in Florida over the course of one year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency held up conversations back in January arguing that the technique should be used to combat the Zika virus in Puerto Rico.

This neurotoxin doesn’t discriminate between insects, however. Cornell University’s pesticide database warns “Naled is highly toxic to bees.” With proper knowledge, beekeepers will often cover their hives before aerial sprays and many counties spray during the night when honey bees are not out seeking pollen. Without sufficient knowledge, the results can be disastrous. Flowertown Bee Farm and Supply in Summerville, South Carolina was critically damaged by the recent sprayings. Inhabitants of 46 hives died on the spot, some 2.5 million bees in total.

Scientists from the Clemson University collected samples from the soil around Flowertown on Tuesday for further investigation to the cause of death for the pollinators. To the bee farmers, that reason is already quite clear. Casualties in the war on disease stricken mosquitoes.

Jason Ward, administrator of Dorchester county, stated on Thursday, “The beekeepers that were on the county’s contact list that were in the zone to be sprayed were called with one exception. Mr. Scott Gaskins, who runs the Mosquito Control program, failed to call Mitch Yawn, Ms. Juanita Stanley’s business partner. The second issue regarding beekeepers, like Mr. Andrew Macke, revolves around the fact that the county did not have these locations on its list. However, we have reached out to the Lowcountry Beekeepers Association and they provided us with the names and locations for other beekeepers in Dorchester County.”

The real truth here is pesticides are not proving to be the best way for us to keep pollinators safe, to keep crops safe, or to keep us safe. We need the bees. Seems the bees need us too.

--Mi

Image Credit -- http://bit.ly/2bJ6ltr

Sources – http://wapo.st/2ceITGu http://bit.ly/2cjl7sQ

The Brains of Bees

A new study has shown just how strongly neonicotinoid insecticides affect bees' brains. Neonicotinoids are some of the most widely used pesticides, used on about 95 percent of corn and canola crops, and are also used on cotton, sorghum, sugar beets and soybean. Developed about 30 years ago, neonicotinoids have long been a source of contention, and the European Commission even placed a moratorium on their use for two years starting in 2013.

The study, published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, shows that the trace amounts of neonicotinoid insecticides found in nectar and pollen do affect bees' brains after consumption.

The team of researchers working from the University of St Andrews and the University of Dundee in Scotland have discovered that as little as 2.5 parts per billion of neonicotinoid affects the bees brains. To provide some perspective for this small amount, that's approximately 1 teaspoon in an Olympic size swimming pool.

The debate about what these small amounts of insecticides actually did to bees has been heated. But the study showed that even at the lowest amounts hives saw a 55% reduction in live bee numbers, a 71% reduction in healthy brood cells and a 57% reduction in total bee mass of a nest. Essentially, the insecticides shut down the mitochondria in the brain cells, messing with the bees' ability communicate with each other, to learn various skills such as remembering how to return to a colony, and identifying which scent belongs with which food reward, hindering the bees' ability to feed.

The research showed that the bees' brains were affected at levels one-fifth to one-tenth the present levels found in the wild. As the researchers point out, this isn't terribly surprising as the insecticides are designed to affect the brains of insects. But they are also quick to point out that this research does not suggest that neonicotinoids are solely responsible for bee decline. But, the study does helps researchers understand the relationship between bee health and the insecticides.

Hopefully the study will help policy makers and farmers determine how best to regulate the insecticide in such a way that farmers can still bring in their crops while preserving the bees who are responsible for approximately $215 billion (US) of the global economy. Many crops depend on bees, such as apples, cranberries, melons and broccoli; blueberries and cherries are 90% dependent on honey bee pollination. Almonds have been particularly hard hit by the bee decline, as they are entirely dependent on honey bee pollination.

Further reading: http://bit.ly/1BsjCSr

and

http://phys.org/news/2015-02-neonicotinoid-insecticides-impair-bee-brains.html Picture credit: "Bee 126" by درفش کاویانی - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bee_126.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Bee_126.JPG

-Colter

A study published in December 2013, in the journal Ecosphere, has discovered bees making their homes out of bits of plastic waste. Every year, us humans disregard an enormous amount of waste; plastic proving especially vexing. Plastic is cheap and useful but also, for the most part, cannot be biodegraded; or if they can be, it is a very slow process. This durability ensures that plastic wastes are in abundance in landfills, our streets and the natural environment. The discovery that bees are utilising our waste is both sad and impressive; they have adapted to find a silver lining to our irresponsibility.  The researchers, from the University of Guelph in Ontario, watched hives of the alfalfa leaf cutting bees (Megachile rotundata). They noted that the busy bees replaced an average of 23 percent of their traditional, leafy building material with scraps of plastic bags. The researchers suggests that the abundance of plastic in urban areas could create a new branch in the evolutionary tree; separating city-dwelling bees who have learned to work within a human environment from their more rural cousins.  By no means should we justify our consumerism and waste by stating that creatures adapt, but, it’s hard not to be amazed by the resilience shown by these bee populations.  -Jean Study: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/19AGwJ/:PDDoHx-J:Db+UJmGf/modernfarmer.com/2014/03/study-find-bees-learned-recycle-plastic/