Bees may need multiple generations to recover from the lingering impacts of pesticide exposure, according to a new study.
Scientists at the University of California, Davis tracked how blue orchard bees that encountered chemical-laced nectar and pollen as larvae or adults fared over two years. The researchers found that exposure early in life could impair reproduction, as could exposure during adulthood. However, the effects were especially dramatic in bees that faced a double whammy of pesticide exposure as youngsters and adults; these unlucky insects produced 44 percent fewer offspring than bees that were never exposed to the chemical.
Eden Research plc (LON:EDEN) is an AIM-quoted company focussed on sustainable biopesticides and plastic-free encapsulation technology for the use in global crop protection, animal health and consumer products industries.