Do Common Methods for Protecting Bees From Pesticides Actually Work?
Responsible use of pesticides includes striving to avoid negative effects on the environment, often with an emphasis on protecting bees and other pollinators. A new study, however, finds that many common methods for minimizing pesticides' impact on bees—even some recommendations on product labels—are backed by minimal scientific evidence.
An Essential U.S. Pesticide Database is Disappearing
Responsible use of pesticides depends in part on understanding where and when they're used and their impacts on the environment. However, a key source of information on pesticide usage is being scaled back, which could leave scientists and the public in the dark.
New Study Revisits 2013 Pesticide Bee Kill in Oregon
In June 2013, a pesticide application on ornamental trees in a shopping-center parking lot in Wilsonville, Oregon, led to the largest documented mass fatality of bumble bees in North America. A new analysis of the incident estimates more than 100,000 bees from nearly 600 colonies were killed, which researchers cite as a cautionary tale about the dangers of pesticides to native bee populations.
Pollen Sleuths: Tracking Pesticides in Honey Bee Pollen to Their Source Plant
When pesticides show up in the pollen that honey bees collect, can the source plant be pinpointed? A new study is the first to successfully combine chemical analysis of pollen and the keen eye of a palynologist—an expert in identifying pollen microscopically—to track pesticide in bee-collected pollen to a source plant genus.