PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Exposure to pesticides results in smaller worker bees

2014-01-20
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Paul Teed
paul.teed@rhul.ac.uk
01-784-443-967
Royal Holloway, University of London
Exposure to pesticides results in smaller worker bees Exposure to a widely used pesticide causes worker bumblebees to grow less and then hatch out at a smaller size, according to a new study by Royal Holloway University of London.

The research, published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology, reveals that prolonged exposure to a pyrethroid pesticide, which is used on flowering crops to prevent insect damage, reduces the size of individual bees produced by a colony.

The researchers, Gemma Baron, Dr Nigel Raine and Professor Mark Brown from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway worked with colonies of bumblebees in their laboratory and exposed half of them to the pesticide.

The scientists tracked how the bee colonies grew over a four month period, recording their size and weighing bees on micro-scales, as well as monitoring the number of queens and male bees produced by the colony.

"We already know that larger bumblebees are more effective at foraging. Our result, revealing that this pesticide causes bees to hatch out at a smaller size, is of concern as the size of workers produced in the field is likely to be a key component of colony success, with smaller bees being less efficient at collecting nectar and pollen from flowers," says researcher Gemma Baron from Royal Holloway.

The study is the first to examine the impact of pyrethroid pesticides across the entire lifecycle of bumblebees. The topical research is at the heart of a national Bee Health Conference running in London from Wednesday to Friday this week (22-24 January 2014).

Professor Mark Brown said: "Bumblebees are essential to our food chain so it's critical we understand how wild bees might be impacted by the chemicals we are putting into the environment. We know we have to protect plants from insect damage but we need to find a balance and ensure we are not harming our bees in the process."

Given the current EU moratorium on the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides, the use of other classes of pesticide, including pyrethroids, is likely to increase.

Dr Nigel Raine, who is an Invited Speaker at this week's bee conference, said: "Our work provides a significant step forward in understanding the detrimental impact of pesticides other than neonicotinoids on wild bees. Further studies using colonies placed in the field are essential to understand the full impacts, and conducting such studies needs to be a priority for scientists and governments."

### The study was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) PhD studentship, and the Insect Pollinators Initiative (joint-funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Defra, NERC, the Scottish Government and the Wellcome Trust. It is managed under the auspices of the Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) partnership).


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New hope for Gaucher patients

2014-01-20
New hope for Gaucher patients What causes brain damage and inflammation in severe cases of Gaucher disease? Little is known about the events that lead to brain pathology in some forms of the disease, and there is currently no treatment available – a bleak ...

Overexpression of splicing protein in skin repair causes early changes seen in skin cancer

2014-01-20
Overexpression of splicing protein in skin repair causes early changes seen in skin cancer Cold Spring Harbor, NY – Normally, tissue injury triggers a mechanism in cells that tries to repair damaged tissue and restore the skin to a normal, or homeostatic state. Errors ...

The water cycle amplifies abrupt climate change

2014-01-20
The water cycle amplifies abrupt climate change The role of the hydrological cycle during abrupt temperature changes is of prime importance for the actual impact of climate change on the continents. In a new study published in Nature ...

Solar-power device would use heat to enhance efficiency

2014-01-20
Solar-power device would use heat to enhance efficiency New approach developed at MIT could generate power from sunlight efficiently and on demand CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- A new approach to harvesting solar energy, developed by MIT researchers, could improve ...

Distant quasar illuminates a filament of the cosmic web

2014-01-20
Distant quasar illuminates a filament of the cosmic web Astronomers capture first image of diffuse gas within the network of filaments connecting galaxies in a cosmic web Astronomers have discovered a distant quasar illuminating a vast nebula of diffuse gas, revealing ...

Get used to heat waves: Extreme El Nino events to double

2014-01-20
Get used to heat waves: Extreme El Nino events to double Rain pattern research confirms the impacts of unusuala and extreme El Nino events Extreme weather events fuelled by unusually strong El Ninos, such as the 1983 heatwave that led to the Ash Wednesday ...

Island channel could power about half of Scotland, studies show

2014-01-20
Island channel could power about half of Scotland, studies show Renewable tidal energy sufficient to power about half of Scotland could be harnessed from a single stretch of water off the north coast of the country, engineers say Renewable tidal energy sufficient ...

Ingredients in chocolate, tea and berries could guard against diabetes

2014-01-20
Ingredients in chocolate, tea and berries could guard against diabetes Eating high levels of flavonoids including anthocyanins and other compounds (found in berries, tea, and chocolate) could offer protection from type 2 diabetes - according to research ...

Milky Way may have formed 'inside-out': Gaia provides new insight into Galactic evolution

2014-01-20
Milky Way may have formed 'inside-out': Gaia provides new insight into Galactic evolution A breakthrough using data from the Gaia-ESO project has provided evidence backing up theoretically predicted divisions in the chemical composition of the stars that ...

York scientists investigate the fiber of our being

2014-01-20
York scientists investigate the fiber of our being We are all aware of the health benefits of "dietary fibre". But what is dietary fibre and how do we metabolise it? Research at the University of York's Structural Biology Laboratory, in collaboration with groups ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

‘Preventable deaths will continue’ without action to make NHS more accessible for autistic people, say experts

Scientists shoot lasers into brain cells to uncover how illusions work

Your ecosystem engineer was a dinosaur

New digital cognitive test for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease

Parents of children with health conditions less confident about a positive school year

New guideline standardizes consent for research participants in Canada

Research as reconciliation: Oil sands and health

AI risks overwriting history and the skills of historians have never been more important, leading academic outlines in new paper

The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology: Higher doses of semaglutide can safely enhance weight loss and improve health for adults living with obesity, two new clinical trials confirm

Trauma focused therapy shows promise for children struggling with PTSD

School meals could drive economic growth and food system transformation

Home training for cerebellar ataxias

Dry eyes affect over half the general population, yet only a fifth receive diagnosis and treatment

Researchers sound warning about women with type 2 diabetes taking oral HRT

Overweight and obesity don’t always increase the risk of an early death, Danish study finds

Cannabis use associated with a quadrupling of risk of developing type 2 diabetes, finds study of over 4 million adults

Gestational diabetes linked to cognitive decline in mothers and increased risk of developmental delays, ADHD and autism among children

Could we use eye drops instead of reading glasses as we age?

Patients who had cataracts removed or their eyesight corrected with a new type of lens have good vision over all distances without spectacles

AI can spot which patients need treatment to prevent vision loss in young adults

Half of people stop taking popular weight-loss drug within a year, national study finds

Links between diabetes and depression are similar across Europe, study of over-50s in 18 countries finds

Smoking increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, regardless of its characteristics

Scientists trace origins of now extinct plant population from volcanically active Nishinoshima

AI algorithm based on routine mammogram + age can predict women’s major cardiovascular disease risk

New hurdle seen to prostate screening: primary-care docs

MSU researchers explore how virtual sports aid mental health

Working together, cells extend their senses

Cheese fungi help unlock secrets of evolution

Researchers find brain region that fuels compulsive drinking

[Press-News.org] Exposure to pesticides results in smaller worker bees