While domestic bees serve as a model in environmental risk assessments, these tests ignore the biological specificities of wild bees, including their exposure to contaminated soil. A news study reveals alarming risks for species like bumblebees and solitary bees, essential to agriculture.
Combined impacts of pesticides, social detoxification mechanisms, etc.: science still knows little about bees
As much as we strive to protect bees from exposure to pesticides, science still knows little about wild bees. Indeed, according to a study by Sabrina Rondeau, doctoral student in the Faculty of Biology at the University of Ottawa, current regulations are mainly based on studies carried out on domestic bees, neglecting the fundamental differences between the latter and the species wild. Unlike domestic bees, wild bees, often solitary, do not have access to social detoxification mechanisms. Additionally, the risk assessment does not take into account the long-term effects or combined impacts of pesticides.
A striking example is bees that nest in the ground. More than 80% of wild bee species are in direct contact with contaminated soil, a factor ignored by current testing because domestic bees do not dig the soil. A study conducted in Canada demonstrated that bumblebee queens exposed to these soils during hibernation face complex mixtures of pesticides. These exposures increase their mortality and compromise their ability to establish viable colonies.
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For an urgent review of agricultural practices
Solitary bees, such as the squash bee, are also affected by these pesticides. An experimental study found that simultaneous exposure to insecticides and fungicides impacts their behavior and reduces their ability to produce offspring. For bumblebees, certain pesticides, such as cyantraniliprole, increase the mortality of larger queens, disrupt their reproductive cycle and alter the size of their offspring.
These findings call for an urgent review of agricultural practices. “Safer” chemical alternatives, such as diamides, are not without risks and could make the situation worse. Protecting wild bees requires a global approach that takes into account biological specificities and complex interactions between pesticides. Because we must not forget: by guaranteeing the survival of pollinators, we preserve not only our biodiversity, but also global food security.
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Bees, workers of life on Earth, are an irreplaceable cog in the earth’s flora and therefore in our agriculture: without them, there is no pollination of flowers, and without pollination, no fruits or vegetables.
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Source: www.consoglobe.com
