[Pollinator] Fwd: CATCH THE BUZZ - Worse than the sum of the parts...

Wed Mar 27 16:46:25 PDT 2013

____________________________________
 From: chip at ku.edu
To: Ladadams at aol.com
Sent: 3/27/2013 10:19:56 A.M.  Pacific Daylight Time
Subj: Fwd: CATCH THE BUZZ - Worse than the sum of the  parts...

Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:11:30 -0500
To: <chip at ku.edu>
From:  Kim Flottum <Kim at BeeCulture.com>
Subject: CATCH THE BUZZ - Worse than  the sum of the parts...
X-Ezezine: (1636.25679.4009)

This ezine is also available online at 
_http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2013.03.27.13.11.archive.html_ 
(http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2013.03.27.13.11.archive.html) 

CATCH THE BUZZ

If One Is Bad, Two Are Definitely Worse

By Alan Harman

Exposure to a combination of pesticides commonly used in agriculture has  a 
negative impact on bees' ability to learn, two new UK studies have  found.

Researchers at the University of Dundee in Scotland found  that the 
pesticides, used in the research at levels shown to occur in the  wild, could 
interfere with the learning circuits in the bee's brain. They also  found bees 
exposed to combined pesticides were slower to learn or completely  forgot 
important associations between floral scent and food rewards.

Dr. Christopher Connolly and his team report today in the  journal Nature 
Communications they investigated the impact on bees' brains of  two common 
pesticides - the neonicotinoids used on crops and coumaphos, used  in honeybee 
hives to kill the Varroa mite.

The intact bees' brains were exposed to pesticides in the  lab at levels 
predicted to occur following exposure in the wild and brain  activity was 
recorded. They found that both types of pesticide target the same  area of the 
bee brain involved in learning, causing a loss of function. If  both 
pesticides were used in combination, the effect was greater.

"This study shows for the first time the effect of  field-relevant 
concentrations (3 ppb) of neonicotinoid pesticides and an  organophosphate miticide 
on honeybee brain function," Connolly says. "Both  prevent information flow 
in the major learning centre of the honeybee  brain.

"There is clearly a major brain dysfunction in response to  these compounds 
and this is supported by behavioral research from Newcastle  University."

Connolly says local honeybee losses in Scotland have been  two-fold higher 
in bees reported to forage on oilseed rape, the major exposure  risk of the 
neonicotinoids to bees.

"Unfortunately, the negative impact is increased when the  chemicals are 
present together," he says. "This highlights the urgent need for  the 
recording of local pesticide use, so that potentially dangerous  combinations of 
pesticides may be identified by association with localized bee  losses. Sadly, 
although this pesticide use is recorded by farmers, the UK  government does 
not collect this data."

The researchers say they believe that targeting the insect brain  is a high 
risk strategy to control crop pests as toxicity at non-target  insects 
seems inevitable.

"We need to develop alternative strategies to using  neonicotinoids and 
other insecticides to address this problem, for example by  encouraging 
agro-ecological farming systems and creating a network of garden  nature reserves 
free of pesticides and filled with pollinator friendly plants  and nesting 
sites."

Connolly says the study is the first to show that these  pesticides have a 
direct impact on pollinator brain physiology.

It was prompted by the work of collaborators Dr. Geraldine  Wright and Dr. 
Sally Williamson at Newcastle University who found that  combinations of 
these same pesticides affected learning and memory in  bees.

Their research established that when bees had been exposed  to combinations 
of these pesticides for four days, as many as 30% of honeybees  failed to 
learn or performed poorly in memory tests. Again, the experiments  mimicked 
levels that could be seen in the wild, this time by feeding a sugar  solution 
mixed with appropriate levels of pesticides.

"Pollinators perform sophisticated behaviors while foraging  that require 
them to learn and remember floral traits associated with food,"  Wright says. 
"Disruption in this important function has profound implications  for 
honeybee colony survival, because bees that cannot learn will not be able  to 
find food."

The researchers expressed concerns about the use of  pesticides that target 
the same area of the brain of insects and the potential  risk of toxicity 
to non-target insects. Moreover, they say exposure to  different combinations 
of pesticides that act at this site may increase this  risk.

"Much discussion of the risks posed by the neonicotinoid  insecticides has 
raised important questions of their suitability for use in  our 
environment," Connolly says. "However, little consideration has been given  to the 
miticidal pesticides introduced directly into honeybee hives to protect  the bees 
from the Varroa mite. We find that both have negative impact on  honeybee 
brain function.

"Together, these studies highlight potential dangers to  pollinators of 
continued exposure to pesticides that target the insect nervous  system and the 
importance of identifying combinations of pesticides that could  profoundly 
impact pollinator survival."

The research is part of the Insect Pollinators Initiative,  jointly funded 
by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council,  the 
Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Natural  Environment 
Research Council, the Scottish government and the Wellcome Trust  under the 
auspices of the Living with Environmental Change  partnership.

The organic group Soil Association says the numbers of honey  bees, bumble 
bees and other pollinating insects are declining rapidly and  there is 
strong evidence that intensive farming practices and in particular  certain 
pesticides are key culprits.

They bees play a crucial role in pollinating crops and the  cost of losing 
pollinating insects has been calculated to be £1.8 billion  (US$2.7 billion) 
to UK farmers.

Association head of policy Emma Hockridge says the new  research follows a 
number of other studies which also highlight the dangers of  neonicotinoid 
pesticides on pollinators.

"It further highlights the need to get off the chemical  treadmill and 
focus on alternative ways of controlling insect pests, for  example by using 
agro-ecological approaches such as organic farming,"  Hockridge says.

The report was released a day after UK Farm Minister David  Heath said that 
UK field trials by Defra had not conclusively found evidence  of a link 
between neonicotinoid use and bee deaths.

Hockridge says the association looks forward to seeing the  detail of the 
results of these field trials.

"David Heath only referred to the impact of colony growth in  bumble bees in
 the research mentioned and didn't rule out the impacts of  
neonicotinoids," she says. "Defra is relying on limited trials, rather than a  whole range 
of studies which are showing harm to bees. As we continue to see  consistent 
evidence signaling neonicotinoids should be banned, we call on the  UK 
government to vote to ban a number of neonicotinoid pesticides as is  currently 
being discussed in the EU."

____________________________________

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-- 

Chip Taylor
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